The New England Patriots and Nick Folk have grown familiar with parting ways with each other in the past year. Among the players the Patriots released on Saturday, Folk was released yet again, per The Athletic's Jeff Howe.

Late last season, New England signed Folk after failing to find a viable replacement for Stephen Gostkowski. Gostkowski was on injured reserve due to a nagging hip injury and Mike Nugent took his place to begin the season.

After replacing Nugent, Folk handled the kicking duties for New England until he needed to undergo an appendectomy procedure. The team would waive him in Week 13, signing Kai Forbath to replace him for a week. Then, the team re-signed him and he was kicking for them in Week 14.

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Throughout his seven regular-season games with the Patriots, Folk converted on 14 of his 17 field-goal attempts. He would also make all 12 of his extra-point tries, earning him the right to remain with the team into the playoffs. In New England's lone postseason contest, the veteran kicker made both of his field goals and his one extra-point attempt.

Despite his contributions last season, the Patriots brought in competition at the kicker spot this offseason. In the 2020 NFL Draft, New England selected Justin Rohrwasser, a kicker out of Marshall, in the fifth round. Even though Rohrwasser has yet to kick in a game, the team is letting Folk go.

The move to release Folk could also be a ploy for the Patriots to create room for someone to be placed on injured reserve. Once they place a player on injured reserve, they could retain Folk again. Regardless if that's the case, Folk is likely accustomed to being released by the Patriots at this point.