Patriots vs Dolphins Live Nick Folk was cut Saturday, signed to the practice squad Sunday and will almost certainly be the New England Patriots’ starting placekicker when they host the Miami Dolphins, Sunday in Week 1.
It appears that the decision to finalize the 53-man roster with no kickers on cutdown day was less a reflection on Folk, who was the Patriots’ best kicker in training camp and more of an instance where Bill Belichick saw an opportunity to take advantage of a temporary roster rule created because of the pandemic.
For starters, the Patriots didn’t put in a waiver claim on Chase McLaughlin, Matt Gay or Stephen Hauska, who were cut by Indianapolis, Tampa Bay and Buffalo respectively. If they weren’t comfortable with Folk, there were capable replacements available and they didn’t pursue them.
New England signed Folk to the practice squad. If Justin Rohrwasser, the fifth-round pick who was also cut and signed to the practice squad, was expected to be the Week 1 starter, there would have been no reason to use a spot on Folk.
In a normal year with experience restrictions, Folk would have been way too experienced to be eligible for a practice squad. But that’s been eliminated for 2020. Plus having 16 practice squad spots makes that real estate less exclusive allowing the Patriots to use two of those spots for kickers.
Belichick has long found moments of fleeting glee from recognizing opportunities that were unintended when rules were created. It’s possible the Patriots could spend the entire season without a kicker on the active roster, a move that would seem to fit Belichick’s love of exploiting fine print.
Normally any team can sign someone to their active roster from someone’s practice squad. But in 2020, new practice squad rules allow teams to designate four practice squad players that can’t be signed away from an opponent. Plus, on game day teams can make two practice squad players eligible to play.
So Folk could be one of the four protected players and one of the two elevated players each week. Or if Rohrwasser, who struggled in camp, rediscovers his accuracy and length, Belichick could simply move Rohrwasser into that role.
