Here are today’s workout updates:
Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
New York Giants
Today’s workout updates:
Carolina Panthers
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Chargers
Washington Redskins
The Patriots are in need of a new kicker after placing Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve earlier today, and they worked out five free agents on Wednesday. New England took a look at Kai Forbath, Elliott Fry, Mike Nugent, Blair Walsh, and Matthew Wright today, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com.
New England will need another kicker for Sunday’s contest against the Redskins, but the club doesn’t seem to be acting with any sense of urgency. The Patriots are not expected to sign a kicker today and may bring in more free agents on Thursday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Chargers also held kicker auditions today, which created travel issues for several free agents, per RapSheet.
Nugent by far the most experienced of the kickers that tried out for the Patriots, having attempted more than 300 field goals during his career, but both Walsh and Forbath have each attempted more than 100 kicks each. Fry lost the Bears’ kicking competition over the summer, while Wright is an undrafted rookie free agent.
Meanwhile, Kaare Vedvik — who was traded from the Ravens to the Vikings this offseason before briefly landing with the Jets — declined to work out for the Patriots, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link), who adds Vedvik is focusing on punting and kickoffs rather than field goals.
Despite Adam Vinatieri not opting to retire, the Colts held a kicker audition. The team worked out Cody Parkey, Elliott Fry and Younghoe Koo, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This workout occurred today, after Vinatieri decided not to retire, NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets. Also part of the audition: Greg Joseph, Chase McLaughlin and Cole Hedlund, per Balzer.
None of these kickers has signed with Indianapolis yet, but the 1-1 team is doing due diligence in light of Vinatieri’s rough start to the season.
Parkey worked out for the Jets recently, but Gang Green went with a Kaare Vedvik waiver claim instead. They now have Sam Ficken at kicker. Parkey has not kicked in a game since his infamous double-doink sequence ended the 2018 Bears’ season, but he has five seasons’ experience.
Koo has also participated in workouts but has not kicked since some late-game misses cost him his Chargers job early in 2017. A South Carolina alum, Fry has yet to kick in an NFL game. Neither has Hedlund, who kicked at Arkansas and North Texas. Joseph served as the Browns’ kicker last season, taking Zane Gonzalez‘s job in September 2018. He did not win Cleveland’s kicking competition this year. McLaughlin did not make the Bills out of camp. He kicked at the University of Illinois from 2015-18.
This is not yet an ominous sign for Vinatieri, but the 46-year-old kicking icon may now be on notice. The future Hall of Famer may be kicking for his job in Week 3.
We’ve got another busy day of workouts, with many teams across the league hosting players.
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Miami Dolphins
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Redskins
While the Bears this offseason garnered more publicity than just about any kicker-seeking team ever has, the Jets are entering that realm. They are almost certainly set to move to a fourth kicker in less than a month.
The Jets will hold a kicker tryout on Tuesday, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets. Sam Ficken, Greg Joseph, Elliott Fry, Younghoe Koo, and Tristan Vizcaino will vie to replace the struggling Kaare Vedvik, according to Manish Mehta of the Daily News.
Adam Gase‘s official word has not yet sealed Vedvik’s fate, but Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News notes the first-year Jets coach was “fuming” regarding the recently acquired kicker on Sunday night (Twitter link). Vedvik missed an extra point and a 45-yard field goal in what became a one-point Jets loss to the Bills. The hybrid specialist is 1-for-5 on field goals since being traded from the Ravens to the Vikings in the second week of the preseason.
Vedvik loomed as a Ravens trade chip for two offseasons, and after spending the 2018 season on Baltimore’s IR list, the Ravens acquired a fifth-round pick for him. The Vikings were set to offer a practice squad spot to Vedvik before the Jets made a waiver claim. The Vikings have another kicker, Chase McLaughlin, on their P-squad.
The Jets opted to let 2018 Pro Bowl kicker Jason Myers defect to the Seahawks in free agency. Replacement Chandler Catanzaro retired in mid-August, and the team added AAF alum Taylor Bertolet. The Vedvik claim sent Bertolet back to the waiver wire. Despite a versatile skill set that stems from extensive punting experience as well, Vedvik looks set to head there again soon.
The Ravens released kicker Elliott Fry, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Fry sank a 48-yard field goal in preseason action on Thursday night, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in Baltimore.
Fry now becomes one of the best available kickers in the NFL and an intriguing option for teams sifting through the waiver wire. The Jets, for instance, have No. 3 priority and could be among the interested clubs.
Fry spent most of the offseason fighting for the Bears’ job, but the team dropped him in favor of Eddy Pineiro. In Baltimore, they’ll stick with Justin Tucker, as was expected.
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
The Bears have waived kicker Elliott Fry, the team announced. That leaves Eddy Pineiro as the only kicker on the roster at the moment.
However, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune cautions that the decision to waive Fry, an AAF alumnus whom the the Bears signed in April, does not mean that Pineiro has won the team’s much-discussed kicking competition (Twitter link). Indeed, Biggs suggests that a to-be-released player from another organization is likely to open the season as the Bears’ kicker, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms (via Twitter) that Chicago remains in the market for kicking help.
The Bears’ kicking game issues in 2018, which ended in heartbreak in the wildcard round of the NFC playoffs, led the team to cast a wide net for answers. Chicago acquired Pineiro in a trade with the Raiders in May, and the club also signed Chris Blewitt, John Baron II, and Redford Jones since their playoff loss to the Eagles. All candidates but Pineiro have been waived.
Fry missed his only FG attempt in the team’s preseason loss to the Giants on Friday. Adam Jahns of The Athletic notes that both Fry and Pineiro have struggled with accuracy and consistency in spring practices and training camp, though Pineiro clearly has the stronger leg (Twitter link).
The Bears were reportedly interested in Kaare Vedvik, but he was traded to the division-rival Vikings last week.
On Friday, the Bears signed kicker Elliott Fry to a three-year contract, Larry Mayer of the ChicagoBears.com writes.
A former walk-on at the University of South Carolina, Fry recently played with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football league, which recently suspended operations. He was a steady leg with the Apollos, converting all 14 of his attempts, with a long of 44 yards.
The Bears notably had issues with their kicking game in 2018. Those issues all culminated in the NFC Wild Card round, when Cody Parkey missed a 43-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining that would have given the Bears the lead on the Eagles.
Fry becomes the third kicker the team has signed this offseason, joining Redford Jones (reserve/future contract) and Chris Blewitt.