HEADLINES

Roberto Aguayo

Patriots Cut K Roberto Aguayo

June 17th, 2021 at 5:35pm CST by Ben Levine

Roberto Aguayo will have to find his next NFL gig elsewhere. The Patriots waived the kicker today, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss (via Twitter). The team also waived long snapper Wes Farnsworth and signed offensive lineman R.J. Prince.

Following a standout career at Florida State, Aguayo was selected with the 59th-overall pick by the Buccaneers back in 2016, making him the first kicker since 2005 (Mike Nugent, Jets) to be selected in the second round. Aguayo struggled throughout his rookie campaign, connecting on only 71-percent of his field goal attempts. He was replaced the following offseason, and he hasn’t seen the field for an NFL game since.

Following stints with the Bears, Panthers, and Chargers, Aguayo joined the Patriots last Decemnow ber. After spending time on their practice squad, he inked a reserve/futures deal. Barring another signing, New England’s kicking competition will come down to veteran Nick Folk and undrafted free agent Quinn Nordin.

Farnsworth joined the Patriots back in May and participated in their minicamp. The former undrafted free agent was competing with Joe Cardona for the starting gig, but it sounds like the veteran long snapper has won the job.

Prince, a 2018 undrafted free agent out of North Carolina, has spent time with the Steelers and Ravens. He hasn’t seen time in an NFL game.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/5/21

January 5th, 2021 at 9:44am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of the latest reserve/futures deals here:

Carolina Panthers 

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Patriots Sign K Roberto Aguayo To Practice Squad

December 26th, 2020 at 8:37am CST by Ben Levine

The Patriots are adding a former second-round pick to their practice squad. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that New England is signing kicker Roberto Aguayo to their practice squad.

Following a standout career at Florida State, Aguayo was selected with the 59th-overall pick by the Buccaneers in 2016, making him the first kicker since 2005 (Mike Nugent, Jets) to be selected in the second round. Aguayo struggled throughout his rookie campaign, connecting on only 71-percent of his field goal attempts. During the 2017 offseason, he ended up getting replaced by Nick Folk (ironically, which we’ll get to in a sec), and the kicker hasn’t appeared in a regular season contest since that time.

Since the 2017 campaign, Aguayo has had stints with the Bears, Panthers, and Chargers, and he hasn’t had a gig since the end of the 2018 preseason. Now, he’ll have a chance to make an NFL comeback by participating on New England’s practice squad.

Of course, the 26-year-old’s going to have a tough time cracking New England’s roster; their current starter, (you guessed it) Nick Folk, has connected on a career-high 92.6-percent of his field goal attempts and 26 of his 28 extra point tries. The 36-year-old Folk is set to hit free agency following the season, so Aguayo could be auditioning for a role in 2021.

North Notes: Bevell, Lewis, Ravens, Browns

December 3rd, 2020 at 6:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

The first Lions interim head coach in 15 years, Darrell Bevell will have five games to run the team. While it should be expected the Lions go in a different direction when they make a full-time hire in 2021, Bevell said team president Rod Wood informed him he is not out of the picture for the permanent gig, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter). Although Bevell was a Matt Patricia hire, the former Seahawks offensive coordinator did not join the Lions until Patricia’s second season. Prior to Bevell spending seven seasons as Seattle’s OC, he oversaw the Vikings’ Brett Favre offenses and held that job for five seasons. His latest offense ranks 20th, though it has been without Kenny Golladay for a big chunk of the season.

Here is the latest from the North divisions:

  • Mike Zimmer replaced defensive coordinator George Edwards by dividing the DC duties between his son (Adam Zimmer) and Andre Patterson. But the Vikings HC wanted a more experienced hand in the room, even before Edwards’ exit. Prior to Edwards’ 2020 departure, Mike Zimmer wanted to hire his former boss — ex-Bengals HC Marvin Lewis — as a defensive assistant, Dan Pompei of The Athletic notes (subscription required). This interest came in 2019, and Zimmer sought Lewis for a part-time role, Pompei adds. Lewis ended up on Herm Edwards‘ Arizona State staff, in an advisory role, last year and is now the Sun Devils’ co-defensive coordinator.
  • Robert Griffin III indeed suffered a hamstring pull in the Ravens‘ Wednesday loss to the Steelers, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. He is not expected to practice when Baltimore reconvenes for workouts. The earliest Lamar Jackson could practice would be Sunday, which would give the Ravens starter one full practice and a Monday walkthrough in advance of a Tuesday return against the Cowboys. It is not known if Jackson will be ready by then, but he will be eligible to return after testing positive for the coronavirus on Nov. 26.
  • The Browns will not have one of their starters for a while. They placed Ronnie Harrison on IR this week, and Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes the third-year safety’s shoulder injury is expected to keep him out between four and six weeks. This is a big setback for the Browns; Pro Football Focus slots Harrison as its 12th-highest-graded safety this season. Cleveland’s secondary is already down Denzel Ward, who is rehabbing a calf strain.
  • Joe Burrow underwent surgery on his injured knee Wednesday, the Bengals announced in a brief statement. The No. 1 overall pick suffered ACL and MCL tears as well as other structural damage. He is not expected to be ready to return until around the start of next season.
  • Seeking kicker insurance in the COVID-19 era, the Packers worked out Roberto Aguayo, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com notes. The Packers, who have used Mason Crosby as their kicker since 2007, do not have a kicker on their practice squad currently. Aguayo has not caught on with a team since the Chargers cut him in 2018; the former second-round pick has not kicked in a game since his 2016 rookie season.

XFL Notes: Robinson, Cook, Aguayo, Cobb, Gray, Broyles, Boyer, Locke, Novak, Ollie

October 8th, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The relaunched XFL is gearing up for its first season, and they’re starting to announce more and more of their initial player pool. There are a lot of ex-NFL guys in the mix, and we’ll get to that in just a bit, but at least one notable college player is looking to jump right in. Former West Virginia safety Kenny Robinson is entering the XFL draft pool, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. Robinson was dismissed from West Virginia for academic fraud earlier this year. Florio writes that he was “considered a likely draft choice,” but hadn’t been in school long enough to be eligible for the NFL, which requires you to be three years removed from high school graduation.

That left Robinson with the options of looking for a new school to play at, or entering an alternative pro league. “Now they can see how I hold up mentally and physically,” Robinson told Andy Staples of The Athletic. “They’ll see me playing against guys who have actually been in the NFL and done it.” Robinson will be an early test case for what the XFL is hoping more players opt to do. Ever since they announced they were coming back, the XFL has attempted to position itself as a league for talented high school and college players to consider as an alternative to the NCAA. As Florio notes, Robinson will be eligible for the 2020 NFL Draft. In 12 games for the Mountaineers last year he had 77 tackles and four interceptions, earning a first-team All-Big 12 nod.

And now, onto the NFL alums:

  • In the first group of players that the league announced on Twitter, a few names jumped out. Former Michigan State and Raiders quarterback Connor Cook is on the list. Cook was drafted by Oakland in the fourth-round back in 2016, and even ended up starting a playoff game for them that year after injuries to Derek Carr and Matt McGloin. He spent 2017 as a third-stringer and was released at final cuts the following year. He was briefly with the Lions earlier this offseason, but was waived back in June.
  • Everybody’s favorite kicker Roberto Aguayo was also on the list, as were running backs David Cobb and Jonas Gray. Aguayo, of course, was infamously drafted by the Buccaneers in the second-round back in 2016. He lasted only one year as the Bucs’ kicker despite his draft status, and has become a punchline ever since. Cobb had a brief run as the Titans’ lead back in 2015, but never did anything after that. He most recently played in the AAF with the San Antonio Commanders. Gray was with the Patriots in 2014, and won Super Bowl XLIX with the team. Gray randomly had an absurd week in November of that year, rushing for 201 yards and four touchdowns. He quickly fell out of favor, and was released by New England the following year. He hasn’t even been in a training camp since 2016.
  • Earlier Tuesday, the XFL posted to Twitter their second batch of players. Among the notable names was receiver Ryan Broyles, a second-round pick of the Lions back in 2012. Broyles, a legendary Oklahoma player, showed some promise as a rookie, but injuries derailed his career after that. He last appeared in a regular season game in 2014. There were also a few interesting specialists on the list in longsnapper Nate Boyer, punter Jeff Locke, and kicker Nick Novak. Boyer spent six years in the military and served in Afghanistan and Iraq before becoming a walk-on at Texas. He spent the 2015 offseason with the Seahawks, but was ultimately released. Notably, he is the player who advised Colin Kaepernick to kneel rather than sit during the national anthem. Locke spent four seasons as the Vikings’ punter. Novak is a veteran NFL kicker who spent over a decade in the league from 2005-20017. Ronald Ollie, one of the stars of the popular Netflix show ‘Last Chance U’, is also on the list.

 

Redskins Work Out 5 Kickers

November 13th, 2018 at 5:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

Dustin Hopkins‘ availability for Week 11 appears to be in question, so the Redskins are getting an early start on examining replacement help.

With Hopkins “a bit banged up,” per Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter links), Washington brought in several kickers for a Tuesday workout.

Blair Walsh, Roberto Aguayo, Kai Forbath, Sam Ficken and Jon Brown participated, Yates reports. Of the quintet, only Ficken has kicked in a 2018 game. Walsh and Forbath had gigs last season, with the Seahawks and Vikings, respectively, while Aguayo has not kicked in a game since his rough 2016 season.

Forbath has a history with Washington, having been Hopkins’ predecessor. The UCLA product served as the Redskins’ kicker from 2012-14 before moving on to roles with the Saints and Vikings. The latter cut him this year, giving the job to rookie Daniel Carlson, whose grip on it lasted two games.

The Redskins went through this with Hopkins last season. He missed eight games in 2017, and Washington used Nick Rose as its kicker during that time. Rose is not believed to have been among today’s tryout contingent. Also perhaps soon to be available is Chandler Catanzaro, whom the Buccaneers sent to waivers on Monday. But his two misses Sunday helped the Redskins pick up a road win.

NFL Workout Updates: 10/15/18

October 15th, 2018 at 5:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s workout updates:

Cleveland Browns

  • LB Manase Hungalu (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

Jets To Work Out Roberto Aguayo

September 5th, 2018 at 11:17am CST by Sam Robinson

The Jets continue to cycle through options at kicker in advance of their regular-season opener. Roberto Aguayo has a workout scheduled with the team on Wednesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

This marks the third known kicker audition the Jets have held this week. Aguayo is following longtime Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey, while Cardinals camp kicker Matt McCrane has a scheduled workout with the Jets today.

Aguayo hit 3 of 3 field goals during his preseason stay with the Chargers, which did not obviously end up with him winning that job. He remains in search of a team. One of the biggest kicker draft investments in NFL history, Aguayo has not come close to justifying that second-round draft slot.

He has not kicked in a game since that rough 2016 rookie season with the Buccaneers, bouncing around workouts since but never commandeering a job. The Jets still have Jason Myers on their roster but are going through options in an effort to see if an upgrade is out there.

Chargers Cut Roster To 53

September 1st, 2018 at 3:46pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Chargers have moved their roster to 53 by making the following transactions:

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

Overall, not a ton of shockers here either. Spencer Pulley was the team’s starting center last year, but now finds himself cut. Rookie sixth-rounder Dylan Cantrell also failed to make the team. The Chargers elected to keep three quarterbacks, keeping Cardale Jones‘ roster spot safe for now.

Chargers Waive K Roberto Aguayo

September 1st, 2018 at 10:19am CST by Ben Levine

Roberto Aguayo will now be searching for his fifth team in the past year or so. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets that the Chargers have waived the kicker. The move seems to indicate that veteran Caleb Sturgis has won the starting gig.

The Buccaneers (in)famously traded up in the second-round of the 2016 draft to select the Florida State product, surrendering a third- and fourth-rounder to make the pick. Aguayo struggled mightily during his rookie campaign, connecting on a league-worst 71-percent of his field goals, and he was waived by the Buccaneers last summer. Since that time, the 24-year-old has had stints with the Bears, Panthers, and Chargers, but he didn’t see the field once during the 2017 campaign.

However, it appears that Aguayo may be righting the ship. The kicker looked plenty competent during the preseason, connecting on all six of his field goal attempts and all three of his extra points. Teams are naturally wary of his horrendous rookie season, but Aguayo is still plenty young. As the regular season progresses, a team will surely take a look at the kicker.

Sturgis, 29, signed a two-year contract with the Chargers back in March. He had spent the past three seasons with the Eagles, although he was limited to only one game last year. His best season came in 2016, when he connected on 85.4-percent of his field goal attempts and 30 of his 31 extra point attempts.

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