After 19 years in the NFL, 41-year-old kicker Nick Folk is still looking to continue his career in 2026. Despite his age, Folk, who played for the New York Jets in 2025, is expected to receive interest from teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints in free agency.
The veteran has hardly let his age become a factor in the twilight of his career. He is the league's most accurate kicker over the last three seasons, nailing 96.3 percent of his kicks since 2023, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero. He missed just three field goals in that period and none shorter than 40 yards since 2017.
Following his one-year reunion with the Jets, Folk appears likely to be back on the move. The former Dallas Cowboys draft pick has played for five different teams in his nearly two-decade-long career. Unless he re-signs with New York, Folk will be looking for his fourth different team in the last five years.
The Jets should want Folk back, but their offseason focus will be spent elsewhere, while several contending teams will express interest in the steadfast kicker. Folk will have a lot of options on the table and should have no issue extending his career.
Nick Folk would improve the Eagles' kicking woes
The Philadelphia Eagles have several issues to address in the 2026 NFL offseason, and kicker is one of them. Despite retaining one of the longest-tenured kickers in the league, the team needs to move on from Jake Elliott.
Elliott was never the best kicker in the league, but he seemed to reach a new level after signing a third contract with the team. The former Cincinnati Bengals draft pick hit 91 percent of his field goals from 2021 to 2023 after connecting on just 82.2 percent in his first four years.
However, Elliott has lost that form in the last two years. He has made just 76.19 percent of his field goals since 2024, ranking near the bottom of the league during that time. Elliott has particularly struggled from distance, going just 5-for-15 on field goals beyond 50 yards in the last two years.
Not only has Nick Folk been one of the best kickers in the NFL, but he has maintained his leg strength late into his career. Folk has missed just seven field goals beyond 50 yards since 2019. Elliott has missed 17 in that time.
Elliott has three years remaining on his current deal, but the Eagles are not getting the value they expected when they gave him the extension. Despite being the NFL's second-highest-paid kicker, Elliott is arguably the worst in the league.
While Philadelphia would have to eat some of Elliott's salary to release him, the team would be substantially better with Folk kicking instead of him.
Titans need kicker upgrade
After two years with the Tennessee Titans, Nick Folk signed with the Jets in the 2025 offseason. One year apart might be all both sides needed before reuniting in 2026.
The Titans' kicking game was not awful in 2025, but it took a sizeable step back without Folk. The team went with journeyman Joey Slye, whose 80 percent field goal clip ranked near the bottom of the league. While an improvement from his previous two seasons, it was a stark decrease from the 95.5 percent conversion rate Folk posted in 2024.
Like Elliott, Slye also struggled from distance, making just nine of his 14 field goal attempts beyond 50 yards. Considering the Titans attempted the 10th-most field goals in the league, their seventh-lowest team conversion rate left a lot of points on the board.
Not only was Slye inconsistent, but he is also a free agent, leaving Tennessee without a kicker in the 2026 NFL offseason. Folk has spent two of his last three years with the Titans, making him an ideal special teamer to kick off Robert Saleh's tenure.
As the current owner of the most cap space in the league, the Titans are looking to be major players in the 2026 free agency window. Signing a consistent leg like Folk on a veteran minimum contract maintains that flexibility while improving a weak area.
Saints could use Nick Folk
The New Orleans Saints were one of the few teams with a worse kicker situation in 2025 than the Titans. The Saints began the year with Blake Grupe before releasing him for rookie Charlie Smyth, who was not much of an improvement. As a result, New Orleans' 71.43 percent field goal rate was the worst in the league by a mile.
Smyth remains on the roster, but the Saints have to give him competition, at the very least. It does not help that Grupe landed on his feet with the Indianapolis Colts following his release and ended the year with the third-most field goals made in the league.
The Saints have consistently dealt with kicking woes in the last five years, giving them no time to wait and see with Smyth. New Orleans lost five one-possession games in 2025 and missed at least one field goal in three of them.
After winning four of their last five games to end the 2025 season, the Saints have reasonably high expectations for year two of the Kellen Moore-Tyler Shough era. They cannot begin the 2026 season with the same kicking woes they have endured since Wil Lutz left in 2022.
Packers need a new kicker, again
The Green Bay Packers have suffered from inefficient kicking longer than any other team in the league. The culprit in 2022 was 34-year-old Brandon McManus, who hit just 80 percent of his field goals, the sixth-worst among kickers with at least 20 attempts.
McManus' struggles directly led to the Packers' downfall, as he went 0-for-2 on field goals and 2-for-3 on extra points in the team's four-point Wild Card playoff loss to the Chicago Bears. McManus has also struggled to remain on the field in his two years in Green Bay and should not remain on the roster by the fall.
Expect the Packers to be among the most aggressive teams in the kicker market, where Nick Folk will be at the top. He should be among the first players the team calls once the free agency negotiating window officially opens.
Many veteran kickers have had success in Green Bay recently, and Folk could be the next.
Patriots might be interested in Nick Folk reunion
Nick Folk just returned to one of his longtime organizations in the 2025 offseason. He has a chance to do the same thing one year later, with the New England Patriots potentially looking to bolster their kicking room.
The Patriots used a sixth-round draft pick on Andy Borregales in 2025, but that does not mean they should be tied to him in 2026. Borregales' up-and-down rookie season ended with him missing two of his final three field goal attempts that could have ended up costing New England its season in a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos.
While the conditions of that game were not ideal, Borregales ended the year hitting just 84.4 percent of his field goals, including just 73.3 percent from beyond 40 yards. He also missed two of his final three field goal attempts of the regular season, a concerning sign of his inconsistency.
The Patriots will not flat-out move on from Borregales, but they might be interested in giving him some competition. Following a brutal loss in Super Bowl LX, New England's 2026 offseason is all about rounding the edges, which could include the mistake-prone Borregales.
Folk, who is 18 years older than Borregales, is far from a long-term solution, but the Patriots will not hesitate to bring him back if they deem him an upgrade at a position of need.
