Joey

Slye

This was telegraphed earlier when the Titans waived Matthew Wright. Those of you looking for a chance at a zero from your fantasy kicker can happily start Slye against the Patriots in Week 7.

Slye will miss the game with a lingering calf injury. That leaves veteran journeyman Matthew Wright as the Titans’ kicker against Vegas. He won’t be a fantasy option in most formats as the Titans don’t create the sort of game script that leads to consistent field goal tries.

Calf injured his calf in the Titans’ Week 5 win over the Cardinals and was a DNP all week. The veteran kicker will be sidelined for Sunday’s game against the Raiders as a result, giving way for Matthew Wright to see his first action of 2025. Wright split time between three teams in 2024, including the Titans, going 15-for-16 on his field goal attempts while making all tries inside of 50 yards.

Slye is listed with a right calf injury for Wednesday. It is unclear when he suffered the injury as the 29-year-old kicked the game-winner in the Titans’ win over the Cardinals in Week 5. The Titans may look to add a kicker to the practice squad should Slye not practice the rest of the week.

It’s possible this spells the end for 40-year-old Nick Folk, who has spent the last two seasons with the Titans. Slye kicked last season for the Patriots, converting on 26-of-33 attempts while going 6-for-9 on distances of 50 or more yards. He hit a career-long 63-yard field goal in last season’s Week 4 game against the 49ers. Slye is a career 81.7 percent field goal kicker, and could have the inside edge to win whatever kicker competition comes his way once training camp starts up.

Parker Romo will be on the team’s practice squad until the Pats activate him to the game day roster. Parker Romo made 11 of his 12 field goal attempts in four games with the Vikings this season before the team released him in Week 14, with Will Reichard returning from IR. Parker Romo could be New England’s starter soon rather than later. Joey Slye has missed three field goals over the team’s past two games and has converted a lowly 78 percent of his attempts in 2024.

Something of a swan song terrible pick for erstwhile GM Bill Belichick, Ryland suffered through an ineffective rookie campaign and saw Joey Slye added as veteran depth in May. Slye has now presumably won the job. Kickers tend to begin their careers strangely slow in the NFL, so 24-year-old former fourth-rounder Ryland could quickly revive his fortunes on the workout circuit.

Slye will serve as camp competition for second-year kicker Chad Ryland, who converted on 16-of-25 field goals in his rookie season. Ryland missed 7-of-14 attempts from 40-plus yards out, a range that Slye converted on at a 71.4 percent rate last season. Slye has converted 82.3 percent of his field goals for his career and has spent the last two seasons with Washington. While he was most recently with the Jaguars, Slye never attempted a field goal for them, as he was signed back in mid-March as a free agent.

Jacksonville draft K Cam Little out of Arkansas with the 212th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. With Slye’s release, it looks like Little will compete with veteran Riley Patterson for kicking duties. Little converted nearly 83 percent of his field goals at Arkansas and never missed an extra point. Little was first-team All-SEC as a kickoff specialist. Slye, who made 85 percent of his kicks during three years with the Commanders, will likely find work elsewhere this summer.

Slye spent almost three full seasons with the Commanders and converted on 84.8 percent of his field goal attempts over that span while nailing 8-of-12 kicks from 50-plus yards. The five-year vet now has a chance to continue his career with the Jaguars after the Commanders went out and signed Brandon McManus last week. Slye converted on 79.2 percent of his field goal attempts last season, although poor performances by his long snapper likely contributed to a few of those misses.