Buccaneers Sign Their Third Kicker of 2017
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed kicker Patrick Murray on Monday after kicker Nick Folk went 0-for-3 on field goals in Thursday's 19-14 loss to the Patriots.
Murray attended Fordham University and signed with the Bucs in 2014 to a futures contract. He played for the Cleveland Browns in 2016 and the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 preseason. He was cut by the Saints in August. Murray has made 80.8% of his field goals throughout his career.
Folk, meanwhile, has missed six kicks in the last two weeks and seven on the season—no other kicker has missed more than three—and will be placed on IR with minor designation, meaning he'll eventually be cut, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.
"It's unfortunate because when Nick won the job in training camp and he's been really solid in practice, the thing that happened last week kind of came out of left field," Bucs' head coach Dirk Koetter said. "There was no real indication that was coming. We only kicked live in practice one day this week and Nick was lights out."
Just two months ago, the Buccaneers cut Roberto Aguayo, who the franchise traded up in the draft to select in the second round of the 2016 draft. Aguayo was the highest-selected kicker since Mike Nugent in 2005, but made just 71 percent of his field goals, including 4-of-11 from 40 yards or deeper. The Florida State alum disappointed further in training camp and preseason this year and lost his job to Folk before the start of the regular season.
Although Folk won the job in preseason, he has made just six of his 11 field goals and seven of nine extra points. The Bucs have the worst field goal percentage in the NFL since 2012, making just 74.1 percent. Since last season, Tampa Bay kickers have made 66.7 percent of field goals.
