The Patriots have signed recently released former Jaguars kicker Joey Slye, New England announced on Thursday. Contract terms were not immediately made available.
Jacksonville signed Slye in March but cut him on Tuesday, alongside wide receiver Zay Jones, as the Jaguars finalized their 90-man roster with nine draft picks and 13 undrafted free agent signings.
One of Jacksonville’s 2024 draft selections was Arkansas kicker Cam Little, at No. 212 overall in the sixth round, a move that sealed Slye’s fate with the team.
Before signing with the Jaguars, Slye kicked in the regular season for Carolina, Houston, San Francisco and Washington over five seasons. He’s converted 121-of-147 (82.3%) of his career field goal attempts and is 138-of-156 (88.5%) on extra-point tries.
Little, the youngest kicker ever drafted at 20 years, eight months and 10 days old, joins Jacksonville after receiving First-Team All-SEC and Freshman All-American and All-SEC honors over his three-year stint with Arkansas.
A three-year starter for the Razorbacks, Little went 53-of-64 (82.8%) on field goal attempts and a perfect 129-of-129 on extra-point attempts. His career-long field goal in a game is currently 56 yards.
Jacksonville originally agreed to terms with kicker Wil Lutz, who was traded to Denver from New Orleans before the 2023 season during the NFL’s legal tampering period on March 11. Lutz reversed course, though, and re-signed with the Broncos later that day.
Following a career-turnaround year in 2023, when he connected on 88.2% of his field goal attempts after missing the 2021 season with an injury and struggling in 2022, it’s fair to wonder if Jacksonville would have coveted a kicker in the 2024 draft had Lutz stuck to the agreement.
Instead, Little will trot out as the Jaguars’ starting kicker in Week 1.
