Tag: Nick Folk

Patriots 2022 midseason awards: Who is New England’s MVP at the halfway point?

Midseason awards are here! Let’s see which Patriots are deserving of team honors at the midway point of the season.

The New England Patriots sit at 4-4 at the halfway mark entering week 9 of the 2022 season. So far, the year has been filled with inconsistency and specifically growing pains for a Year Two quarterback in Mac Jones, who is playing with new offensive coaches.

Regardless of the rollercoaster ride that this season has been, it is important to note that there are bright spots along the roster and cause for optimism entering the final stretch of the year.

Let’s take a look at who takes home some fake hardware for their performances halfway through this season.

3 standout stars for Patriots’ Week 5 win over Lions

Here are the standout stars for the Patriots’ Week 5 win over the Detroit Lions.

The New England Patriots stumped the best statistical offense in the league, 29-0, in Bailey Zappe’s first NFL start against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

A defensive masterclass was displayed, as they forced the Lions to go a historically bad 0-for-6 on fourth-down conversions during the game.

It was one of those promising performances from the Patriots on both sides of the ball that built on the momentum they created in their near Week 4 road win against the Green Bay Packers.

Let’s take a look at the stars of this week’s routing of Detroit.

Patriots K Nick Folk breaks NFL record against Ravens

Nick Folk made history with a kick on Sunday

New England Patriots kicker Nick Folk showed why he has one of the best legs in the NFL right now by kicking a 35-yard field goal through the uprights and breaking a league record in Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The kick was Folk’s 57th consecutive field goal made under 50 yards, which is now a new NFL record. Even at 37 years old, the veteran is still one of the league’s most consistent kickers.

With the Patriots offense slowly improving, they might need Folk to make some big kicks if the team has any hopes of making a postseason run this year.

The team is currently locked in a tough battle with the visiting Baltimore Ravens in their home opener.

 

4 Patriots fantasy players that should be on your roster

Here are 4 Patriots players that should be on your fantasy teams.

The New England Patriots have several new playmakers on the opposite side of the football. However, returning players make the most sense for fantasy football purposes.

Historically speaking, New England is not a very fantasy-friendly team in terms of scheme and usage, due to their ability to utilize multiple personnel and vary their game plans. Nevertheless, there are a couple of strong candidates for fantasy football drafts.

These players do not have to be taken early and may be available in the later rounds. The Patriots are known for getting the most out of players people may not expect, and that could happen again this year.

Today, we take a look at the four best fantasy football options on the Patriots.

2022 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings: the most reliable legs behind Justin Tucker

Ranking the top kickers in fantasy football.

Before we get into this, let’s be clear about a few things. This ranking is not in the order of who I think the best kickers in the NFL are. If it was, Justin Tucker would be first, Evan McPherson would likely be second, and it definitely wouldn’t reach 25 names.

Rather, these rankings are a guess of which kickers I believe will have the most opportunity to accumulate points. It weighs offenses that could potentially move the ball on a consistent basis but not finish drives vs. offenses that will simply score a lot of points vs. offenses that will have a harder time, and we try to figure it out from there.

Let’s get into it.

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Patriots sign kicker Tristan Vizcaino, release kicker Quinn Nordin

The New England Patriots added depth to the kicking position on Friday.

The New England Patriots signed kicker Tristan Vizcaino, and released kicker Quinn Nordin on Friday afternoon.

Vizcaino has bounced around the league over the past couple of seasons. He played six games for the Chargers last season, going nine-of-10 on field goals and 17-of-22 on extra points. He played in one game with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, prior to his time with Los Angeles.

Nordin was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He did not play any regular-season games for the Patriots last year, as Nick Folk was the starting kicker last season. The Patriots were able to re-sign Folk this offseason, doing so back in March.

New England has found stability at the starting kicker position, and now they are looking for ways to tighten up their depth.

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Nick Folk explains how he ended up back with Patriots after testing free agency

Nick Folk tested free agency but ended up back with the Patriots.

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The New England Patriots and Nick Folk didn’t agree to an extension right away. In fact, the Patriots gave Folk an opportunity to test out free agency after he finished his 2021 season with a field goal percentage of 92.3, the second-best efficiency of his career.

After Folk explored his options, he returned to New England on a two-year, $5 million deal. They gave him a $1 million signing bonus and a base salary of $1.12 million (and a roster bonus of $510,000) for 2022. Unless the team finds a draft prospect they love, Folk will likely serve as the Patriots starting kicker for the fourth year.

He explained what led him back to the Patriots.

“We had been talking to (the Patriots) the whole time,” Folk told reporters on Thursday. “I had talked with Cam and with Bill a little bit and my agent worked with the back guys there. We kinda knew we wanted to go back and we made sure we exhausted all options at that point. Then once that happened, it was back to the Patriots and we were excited for it. My kids were super excited. They’re ready to come back to the northeast and come to a couple games and watch us win some more.”

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Report: Patriots sign K Nick Folk to two-year deal

The Patriots re-signed kicker Nick Folk on Tuesday.

The New England Patriots signed kicker Nick Folk to a two-year $5 million extension on Tuesday, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The deal includes $$2.19 million guaranteed and can max out at $6 million with incentives.

Folk made 36 of 39 field goals for the Patriots in 2021. He has converted 76-of-84 field goals in three seasons with New England. The Patriots first signed Folk in October 2019.

New England has been busy over the past couple of days. In addition to re-signing Folk, they have also re-signed Brian Hoyer, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater and James Ferentz and acquired linebacker Mack Wilson via a trade with the Browns.

As New England continues to tinker with their roster, bringing Folk back adds stability to special teams.

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9 moves the Patriots should make in free agency

Here are the priorities for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots ahead of NFL free agency.

The New England Patriots aren’t going to wow in free agency this year. They simply don’t have the money. There will be no comparison to what Bill Belichick did in 2021 when he basically did his best to buy a team. In some cases, the aggressive approach worked nicely. In others, the contracts are trending in the way of busts.

That’s just how it goes in free agency — and that’s why Belichick has seemingly avoided it as a central place for team-building for so many years. The free-agent market is an expensive and risky place to get talent, whereas the NFL draft is an extremely cheap and risky place to get talent.

So this season, Belichick will likely go back to a more conservative approach. Though I do think he’ll make one bold move. Let’s dive into nine moves the Patriots should make in free agency.

No Patriots named First-Team All-Pro, two players get Second-Team honors

Matthew Judon and Nick Folk were two key players who missed the cut.

Following the 2021 season, there were no New England Patriots named to the Associated Press First-Team All-Pro team.

Although it hasn’t officially been announced by AP, there were two Patriots who were given Second-Team honors. J.C. Jackson had the third-most votes at cornerback and Matthew Slater had the second-most votes as a special-teamer. Jackson, in his fourth season, earned his first All Pro nod and Slater earned his fifth. Jackson and Slater, along with Matthew Judon, were the three players who were named Pro Bowlers.

Judon, Nick Folk and Shaq Mason were all candidates that played well enough to potentially earn All Pro honors.

Here’s a look at the full list for First-Team All-Pro honors.

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