Jets cut ties with K Sergio Castillo after 3 misses vs. Seahawks

The Jets have released kicker Sergio Castillo after six games.

Sergio Castillo’s time with the New York Jets is up.

The Jets announced on Tuesday that they’ve released Castillo after he kicked in six games for them. Castillo was 8-15 on field goals and 6-7 on extra points. He started off his Jets career strong, making six of his first seven field goal attempts in his first three games. However, it went downhill in recent weeks, with Sunday’s game against the Seahawks serving as the nail in the coffin. Castillo went 1-4 on field goals with misses from 37, 41 and 43 yards out.

On Monday, the Jets claimed kicker Chase McLaughlin off waivers from the Jaguars. With McLaughlin signed and Sam Ficken expected back this week, Castillo was the odd man out.

With Castillo now gone, it will either be McLaughlin or Ficken kicking for the Jets on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Against all odds, Sergio Castillo has found a home with the Jets

After a 2019 season filled with inconsistency in the kicking game, it looks like the Jets might have found their leg of the future.

After a 2019 season filled with inconsistency in the kicking game, it looks like the Jets might have found their leg of the future in an unexpected way.

Prior to Week 7, Sam Ficken was well on his way to establishing himself as a kicker the Jets could rely on. The Penn State product endured an up and down 2019 campaign with New York, but he was solid in the first half of 2020, converting nine of his 10 field goal attempts. That included a 5-5 performance against the Dolphins in Week 4.

Then, the injury bug bit.

Ficken was forced to the sideline with a groin injury, leaving the Jets in a bind to find a new kicker on short notice. New York turned to the little-known Sergio Castillo, a 30-year-old Canadian Football League star whose last NFL opportunity came with the Falcons in 2014.

Castillo was first viewed as a short-term fill-in for the injured Ficken, but he has earned his place in the Jets’ special teams room with Ficken still on the shelf. Through three games, Castillo has hit six of his seven field goal attempts, including five in the last two weeks against the Chiefs and Patriots. His lone miss was a blocked kick against Kansas City.

“I’m still in awe,” Castillo said, per team reporter Clemson Smith Muñiz. “I can’t believe that I get to play for the New York Jets.”

Most kickers follow the road less traveled en route to the NFL, but Castillo’s story is unique. He grew up in small-town La Joya, Texas, and received only one offer from Division II West Texas A&M out of high school. After failing to catch on with the Falcons, he bounced around from the CFL to the Alliance of American Football and the XFL. He also endured a torn ACL in 2017, which threatened to end his career.

“There were weak moments when I thought I would never get another chance,” Castillo said. “But every day I get up and write down my goals. On how to be a better person, a better kicker, a better future husband, a better future father.”

Castillo can now check off his top professional goal — playing in the NFL. At the clip he has been producing, it’s safe to assume his stay won’t be a temporary one, either.

Jets release kicker Brett Maher, leaving them with Sam Ficken

With Brett Maher’s release, Sam Ficken has won the Jets’ kicking competition.

The Jets’ kicking competition has come to an apparent close.

Brett Maher was released on Monday with the Donte Moncrief signing becoming official. That means Sam Ficken has won the kicking competition and will be the Jets’ place kicker in 2020.

Ficken was the Jets’ kicker for all but one game in 2019. He was 19-27 on field goal attempts last season. Ficken was strong from 20-39 yards out, only missing one field goal on 10 attempts. However, beyond 40 yards is where Ficken struggled.

Ficken was 7-11 on field goals between 40-49 yards and 3-6 on field goals from 50+ yards out. His longest make last season came from 54 yards out. On extra points, Ficken was 23-26.

Ficken has bounced around the league since going undrafted out of Penn State in 2016. He spent time with Jaguars and Chiefs in 2016 and 2017 before joining the Rams from 2017-2018. In Los Angeles, he was 3-6 on field goals.

Ficken then moved on to the Seahawks and Packers in 2019 before joining the Jets after they released Kaare Vedvik following their Week 1 game.

As for Maher, he kicked in Dallas in 2018 and 2019. He was 49-66 on field goals before ultimately getting released.

Jets officially cut Chandler Catanzaro after 2019 retirement

The Jets have cut Chandler Catanzaro from reserve/left squad list.

Roughly a year after Chandler Catanzaro moved on from the Jets, the Jets are finally moving on from Chandler Catanzaro.

The Jets cut the kicker from the reserve/left squad list this week, thus making him a free agent, according to Dov Kleiman. Catanzaro announced his retirement last August after a tough summer with New York. The Jets originally placed him on the exempt/left squad list before moving him to reserve/left squad list.

Catanzaro, also known as Catman during his time in New York, kicked well for the Jets in 2017. He went 25-30 on his field goal attempts and was a perfect 29-29 on extra points. Catanzaro also owns the longest field goal made in Jets history at 57 yards.

Catanzaro went on to sign a three-year contract with the Buccaneers prior to the 2018 season, but he didn’t perform well there. He missed four field goals and four extra points in just nine games in Tampa Bay. The Panthers took a chance on Catanzaro for four games and he made all of his field goals attempts and made all but one extra point. Catanzaro then returned to the Jets last offseason before retiring.

The 29-year-old went undrafted out of Clemson in 2014 before being signed by the Arizona Cardinals. He spent three seasons in Arizona and was 78-92 on field goals and 123-132 on extra points.

4 free agent kickers the Jets should target

Here are four free agent kickers the Jets should target in free agency.

After a revolving door of kickers came through One Jets Drive in 2019, New York is in the market for a legman once again.

The Jets planned on Chandler Catanzaro being their starting place kicker last season, but he decided to retire during training camp. Then came Kaare Vedvik, who lasted all of one game for the Jets. They finished the season with Sam Ficken, who had his ups and downs and is now an impending free agent.

Kicking was a huge problem for the Jets in 2019 and they need to find stability at the position. They can’t lose games because of their kicker missing an extra point or field goal.

So, let’s take a look at what kickers New York can target in free agency.

Ka’imi Fairbairn

Ka’imi Fairbain is one of the youngest available kickers and he has been pretty consistent over his three-year career.

Fairbain has made at least 80 percent of his field goals in three seasons with the Texans. His best season came in 2018 when he went 37-42 on field goal attempts. Last season, Fairbain didn’t get as many opportunities, but was 20-25.

The only concern with Fairbain is kicking from 50+ yards out. In 2019, Fairbain made 50 percent of his field goals from 50 or more yards. He was better from that distance the two previous years at 66.7 and 75 percent.

At 26 years old, Fairbain would be a solid get for the Jets. He won’t come cheap, but if the Jets want to have a consistent kicker, then they should pay Fairbain what he’s worth.

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Jets Free Agent Profile: What to do with K Sam Ficken?

Here’s a free agent profile of what the Jets should do with kicker Sam Ficken.

Before Joe Douglas can focus on who he plans to target in free agency come March, he’ll have a handful of in-house decisions to make.

The Jets have 32 players set to hit the open market this offseason. Some don’t figure to factor into New York’s plans for 2020, while it’s safe to assume the Jets would like to keep others around for a while. Either way, Douglas has a lot of work to do in his first offseason on the job.

Sam Ficken was an early season acquisition by the Jets after they moved on from Kaare Vedvik. It was a short-term kicker fix for the Jets that didn’t go very well. But if the Jets want to keep someone around that they’re familiar with, then Ficken is an option.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of holding onto Ficken for the 2020 season.

Pros of keeping him

There’s no denying that Ficken had a bad 2019 season, but keep in mind it was the first year he actually kicked a full season.

Ficken was 19-27 on field goal attempts and 23-26 on extra points. He struggled in field goals of 40 or more yards but was strong in kicks under 40 yards. However, there was improvement toward the end of the regular season. Three of the last six games Ficken was 100 percent on his field goal attempts.

So if the Jets believe that his end of year success can translate into next season, then it might warrant his return.

Cons of keeping him

The consistency and inability to kick long field goals hurts Ficken’s possibility of coming back next season.

He was just 10-17 on field goals of 40 or more yards in 2019. It’s not that he didn’t have the leg for them, but his accuracy was not very strong. His longest made field goal of the season came from 54 yards out, which in today’s NFL is not too far.

You simply can’t have kickers who are inconsistent and can’t kick long-range field goals in the NFL anymore, so it might be time to find a kicker who can.

The Verdict

More likely than not, the Jets are going to try to bring in a new kicker for 2020. You can’t have a revolving door of kickers keep coming in when things start to go south. While kicker is not a sexy position, they can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Ficken is an exclusive rights free agent, meaning the Jets only have to offer him the minimum in free agency. But it’s time to look for some stability at the position and bring someone in who can actually kick on a consistent basis.