Bill Belichick made a peculiar move last week by signing kicker Roberto Aguayo to the New England Patriots’ practice squad.
Nick Folk is having the best season of his career with 26-of-28 made field goals (92.9%) and 26-of-29 extra-point attempts (89.7%). The Patriots kept rookie Justin Rohrwasser on the practice squad the entire season — so, signing one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history seems odd.
Why’d Belichick make this move at the end of the season with no playoff opportunity ahead? He explained while speaking with reporters on Wednesday.
“He’s a pretty impressive guy, so we wanted to work with him,” Belichick said. “So we’ll work with him here and see how it goes.”
That’s it. He’s a pretty impressive guy.
Aguayo was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round and made only 22-of-31 field goals as a rookie. He was a kicking sensation at Florida State, making 69-of-78 field goals over a three-year span.
Since that rookie season, Aguayo hasn’t kicked in one regular-season game. He spent time in preseason games with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers, while having a practice squad stint with the Carolina Panthers. His last chance with an NFL team was in September of 2018, until that changed last week.
Folk, 36, wants to continue playing going forward, but he’s going to hit free agency this offseason. The Patriots would be smart to keep him and have some consistency in any facet of the team they possibly can.
Aguayo becoming the team’s kicker next year is unlikely, but the year of 2020 proved that the unlikely can happen at any moment.
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