Tennessee Titans added 2 kickers this week, but Mike Vrabel says 1 is clear starter
The Tennessee Titans didn't add another kicker to their roster Thursday. The way the two weeks of the preseason have gone, that in itself might be news.
Over the past nine days, the Titans have made more moves at kicker than most teams make in an entire season. They waived youngsters Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff on Aug. 22 following the Titans' second game of the preseason. Then they added veteran Michael Badgley, only to waive Badgley five days later following his lone preseason appearance. Then, on Tuesday, the Titans traded a future seventh-round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for veteran Nick Folk. That could've been it, but the Titans came back and added former Cleveland Browns kicker Cade York to their practice squad Wednesday, making it five kickers who've donned a Titans uniform in less than two weeks.
"Nick is our kicker," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said before practice Thursday. "I feel really good about him and about what he’s done and about what he will do. I felt like it was a good opportunity to bring Cade in here to allow him to develop and work and see where he’s at."
Folk said Patriots coach Bill Belichick informed him that he'd been traded Tuesday, triggering a whirlwind afternoon that ended with him arriving in Nashville late that evening. He said he doesn't have familiarity with Vrabel or Titans special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman beyond playing against their teams, but he's excited about the opportunity.
Folk ended up on the trade block after a training camp competition with Patriots rookie Chad Ryland. Titans GM Ran Carthon said he and his pro personnel staff had kept a close eye on a number of teams across the league who employed two kickers throughout the preseason and did their homework on which kickers would be available or may clear waivers, leading the group to Folk.
So why did Titans sign kicker Cade York?
The Titans and Patriots were just two of many teams involved in the kicker market this week. The New Orleans Saints traded kicker Wil Lutz to the Denver Broncos on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Chargers traded kicker Dustin Hopkins to the Browns on Monday. After acquiring Hopkins, the Browns waived York, who was =4-for-8 on field goal attempts this preseason after going 24-for-32 as a rookie in 2022.
York, a former fourth-round pick, said he had offers to sign other places after the Browns waived him. But he chose Tennessee for a specific reason.
"I just felt like it was a good opportunity to come in, have some space to work," York said. "I knew that they’d traded for Nick. But there aren’t very many, if any, jobs anywhere in the NFL. So this is what I thought was the best place to come somewhere and get some work."
York describes his 2022 season as a "welcome to the league" year. He had some big moments, including a game-winning 58-yard kick to beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 1. But he also missed a would-be game-winner from 53 yards against the Chargers and missed two kicks from inside 50 yards in one game against the Baltimore Ravens.
What the Titans have in kicker Nick Folk
Folk is more of a proven commodity. He's been in the NFL since 2007, making 83% of his 400-plus career field goal tries. In the last four years with New England, he made 89.3% of his kicks, including 48 of 61 from 40 yards or longer and 12 of 17 from 50 yards or longer.
Since 2019, the Titans rank last in the NFL in field goals made, field goals attempted and made field goal percentage. Folk and York are the 16th and 17th kickers the Titans have employed in that short period. The Titans desperately need stability there, and Carthon and Vrabel are betting on Folk to be that guy with York serving as a developmental project.
Folk, now kicking for his fifth team, is here to prove his new squad right.
"I’m excited about it," Folk said. "Excited for the new opportunity and excited to hopefully win a couple ballgames."
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Tennessee Titans added both kickers Nick Folk and Cade York
