Patriots Analysis

Patriots 90-Man Roster Spotlight: Joey Slye

Published

6 months ago

July 27, 2024

The New England Patriots can have up to 90 players under contract during the offseason. Patriots Football Now will profile all 90 players (though there are currently 91 on the roster) over the upcoming months. Today’s featured player is kicker Joey Slye.

Joey Slye

Slye played collegiately for the Virginia Tech Hokies, where he enjoyed a solid four-year career as the team’s placekicker. After not being selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, Slye had tryouts with several NFL teams but was never signed. He remained out of football for the 2018 season but returned the following season. The New York Giants signed Slye during the offseason but did not keep him through camp. He landed with the Carolina Panthers for training camp in 2019.

Carolina kicker Graham Gano started the 2019 season on injured reserve, creating an opening. Joey Slye took the role of the Panthers placekicker and held onto it. He remained their kicker throughout the next two seasons, converting 79.4% of his field goal attempts and scoring 226 points.

Also Read – Concerns for Special Teams Coordinator Jeremy Springer

Ryan Santoso replaced Slye before the start of the 2021 season. He ended up appearing in three games each for the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers as an injury replacement in 2021. Slye finished the season with the Washington Commanders. He remained the kicker in Washington through the 2022 and 2023 seasons as well.

Joey Slye performed well for the Commanders. He made 56-of-66 field goal attempts (84.8%) over the past two-plus seasons, including a long of 61 yards last season.

Joey Slye's 61-YARD field goal is GOOD.

📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Quwvdzpx7G pic.twitter.com/IN450ia8zn

— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2023

Slye signed a one-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Mar. 18, 2024, but was released six weeks later. The New England Patriots signed him the following day.

Slye is one of 15 players with over 500 points since he entered the NFL in 2019.

Contract Status

Joey Slye signed a one-year contract with the New England Patriots. His cap number for 2024 is $1,127,500.

Patriots Placekickers

New England selected Chad Ryland in the fourth round (No. 112 overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft. The two kickers will battle in training camp for the Patriots job.

Outlook for Joey Slye

Quite simply, Slye just needs to beat out Ryland in camp to win the placekicker’s job in New England. Last season there was not the same level of open competition in camp. Veteran Nick Folk and Chad Ryland were competing for the job, but there was not much of a competition. The Patriots were not going to waive a fourth-round pick.

This year is different. Ryland was drafted while Bill Belichick was still running the show for the Patriots. The new regime in Foxboro does not have the same allegiance to him. Moving on from a fourth-round pick entering his second season is easy to do for Eliot Wolf and company if Ryland does not impress in camp. They could also bring him back to the practice squad if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

Bringing in a productive veteran like Joey Slye shows the team wants a legitimate competition in camp this time around.

Slye was an all-state linebacker during his high school career in New Mexico, in addition to being an all-state kicker. He made nine tackles during his college career at Virginia Tech and has added eight more during his NFL career. With the league’s new kickoff rules, Slye could be a valuable “back kicker” if he makes the roster.

Joey Slye has a strong leg, solid NFL production, and a great chance to make the New England Patriots roster. Can he outperform Chad Ryland, who struggled as a rookie in 2023, during training camp? That remains to be seen, but the opportunity to stick on the 53-man roster is there for the veteran. Now it’s just up to Slye to take advantage of it.