The Tennessee Titans decided to make a pivot at the kicker position this offseason that might have gone a bit overlooked in the grand scheme of the team's major shifts across the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
After a strong season led by incumbent kicker Nick Folk, the Titans opted to move off of their guy from last year in favor of new signing Joey Slye, another former New England Patriots kicker coming in on a one-year, $1.25 million contract to take the reigns of field goals and extra points in 2025.
It comes as a bit of a surprise considering the year Folk comes off of, as he led the league in field goal percentage for the second-straight season at 95.5%, also making 100% of his extra points in the process.
And in the mind of Titans head coach Brian Callahan, it was undoubtedly a tough trigger to pull moving off of Folk. However, he dished some compelling rationale behind the decision to sign Joey Slye in favor of the "unbelievable" Folk in a recent interview with team insider Jim Wyatt.
"Nick Folk is unbelievable – he was remarkable last year. I love Nick and what he did for us. But it's a chance for us to get a little younger, and the kickoff portion of things is important. And, if you look at Slye's misses, a lot of them were from 55-plus because they've attempted a lot of them over his career," Callahan said. "I am excited about him. He has some power and some long-hitting ability, which is good."
Slye is no slouch when it comes to nailing his kicks, though he comes off a year where his overall field goal average took a hit, posting a career-low 78.8% rate from all of his attempts across the season.
However, when removing his shots from beyond 50 yards, he collected an 83.3% conversion rate, which is closer to on par with his numbers during 2022 with the Washington Commanders. A bit of a better look for the seven-year league veteran.
If Slye can iron out his inconsistencies from deep, this move could be looked back on as a pleasant success in their efforts to get a younger, long-term option at kicker with their addition of the 28-year-old.
Yet, getting rid of one of the league's best at the position in Folk may inevitably have many scratching their heads with the Titans' bold move to cut ties despite impressive production.
