Quinn Nordin

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/15/23

Here are the only minor moves from today:

New England Patriots

Hayes has bounced around quite a bit in his first three years of NFL play with New England being his fifth destination. He played in the last two games for the Patriots this year. Wilkerson signed with the Patriots practice squad in 2020 after initially signing as an undrafted free agent with the Titans. The former All-OVC receiver out of Southeast Missouri State showed promise at the end of the 2021 season, catching four passes for 42 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start but was placed on injured reserve just before the start of the 2022 season. Nordin has had a bumpy road as a Patriot. Initially being chosen to kick for the team over Nick Folk as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan in 2021, despite a preseason game that saw him miss a 36-yard field goal and two extra points, Nordin never saw action in his rookie season due to injury. He spent the 2022 season on the reserve/non-football injury list.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/13/22

Today’s minor moves around the league:

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Patriots Sign K Tristan Vizcaino, Waive K Quinn Nordin

Tristan Vizcaino went through a busy week. The former Chargers kicker scheduled workouts with the Patriots, Raiders and Ravens. The Patriots are adding the young specialist to their offseason roster.

Considering the sudden interest level, it does not come as a surprise Vizcaino will exit the work week with a deal. He will replace Quinn Nordin, whom the Patriots waived Friday. Vizcaino, 25, worked out for the Pats during their minicamp this week.

The Patriots have used Nick Folk as their kicker for the past two-plus seasons, signing the veteran in 2019 and keeping him on as their primary post-Stephen Gostkowski option since. They re-signed Folk this offseason. Vizcaino, who has kicked for the 49ers and Chargers over a two-year career, should represent competition and insurance going into training camp. Though, the 37-year-old incumbent should still be viewed as the likely Pats 2022 kicker.

The Raiders scheduled a Vizcaino workout this week, while the Ravens were prepared to have him kick at their minicamp next week. This marks a bounce-back opportunity for Vizcaino, who struggled in his extended Chargers audition to start last season. He missed five of the 15 extra points he attempted with the Bolts, who replaced him with Dustin Hopkins near the midseason point. Vizcaino was 6 of 7 on field goals as a Charger, however.

He served as the Washington Huskies’ kicker and punter in 2017 but did not kick in the NFL between then and his one-game 49ers gig in 2020. The Patriots will be Vizcaino’s seventh team. Although he has only kicked in games with the Bolts and 49ers, the Chino Hills, California, native has also spent time with the Bengals, Cowboys, Bills and Vikings since 2019.

Nordin signed with the Pats as a UDFA last season. More teams carried practice squad kickers than usual over the past two years, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting active rosters weekly. While Folk kicked in every Pats game last season, the Pats gave Nordin a futures contract earlier this year. Nordin has not practiced this offseason and was waived with a non-football injury designation, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Pats also considered signing kicker Lucas Havrisik.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/17/22

Here are today’s reserve/futures deals:

Dallas Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

Minor NFL Transactions:  12/1/21

Today’s minor moves:

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/18/21

The customary Saturday minor moves avalanche:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

  • Promoted: WR DeMichael Harris

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Patriots Plan To Place K Quinn Nordin On IR

Nick Folk should soon be in position to stick around as the Patriots’ kicker for the foreseeable future. The Pats are planning to place rookie kicker Quinn Nordin on IR, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

An abdominal injury will lead to Nordin’s IR stay. The Michigan product did not kick in New England’s opener, with the team promoting Folk from its practice squad. Nordin managed a limited practice Thursday but did not work out Friday. This is not expected to be a season-ending injury, per Rapoport, who adds November will be a return goal.

Despite being the Patriots’ primary kicker over the past two seasons, Folk still resides on New England’s taxi squad. That status will change ahead of the team’s Week 2 game against the Jets. The Pats elevated Folk before last week’s game. He made all three of his field goal tries in the Week 1 loss to the Dolphins. New England initially added Folk in 2019, after Stephen Gostkowski‘s injury halted his 14-season tenure, and re-signed him this offseason.

New England added Nordin as a UDFA this offseason. Nordin led the Big Ten in field goals made as a freshman, connecting on 19, and remained the Wolverines’ top kicker through his senior year.

Patriots Expected To Release Nick Folk

Cam Newton isn’t the only long-time veteran getting the boot from the Patriots on Tuesday. New England is expected to make rookie Quinn Nordin their new kicker, thus paving the way for the release of Nick Folk, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Folk entered the league back in 2007 and spent his first few years as the Cowboys’ kicker, although he’s most well-known for being the Jets’ kicker for seven seasons from 2010-16. After his last season with New York he had a few games with the Bucs, but then found himself out of the league.

After spending all of 2018 out of football, he signed with the ill-fated AAF in 2019. He managed to find his way back to the NFL in October of 2019 when the Patriots cut Mike Nugent, and he was the kicker in all 16 of New England’s games last year. He was solid, making 26 of 28 field goals and 30 of 33 extra point attempts.

Nonetheless he’s never had the biggest leg, and it seems like Bill Belichick wanted a younger option with more upside. Folk will turn 37 in November. Nordin is an UDFA rookie from Michigan.

Patriots Sign UDFA K Quinn Nordin

The Patriots have finally added an undrafted free agent. The team announced today that they’ve signed rookie kicker Quinn Nordin.

Nordin appeared in 37 games during his four years at Michigan, connecting on 42 of his 58 field goal attempts and 119 of his 124 extra point attempts. This included a 2017 campaign where he led the Big Ten in field goals made (19) while finishing fifth in points (92). Nordin didn’t have many opportunities to show off his skills in 2020, as he was limited to only four games. He connected on two of his five field goal attempts this past year, although he did convert each of his 12 extra point tries.

The Patriots were already rostering a pair of kickers, including incumbent Nick Folk. The team also picked up former second-round pick Roberto Aguayo late last season. The team used a fifth-round pick last season on Justin Rohrwasser, but he was waived by the team back in March.

For a front office that seems to love their hidden gems, it’s a bit of a surprise that the Patriots have been so inactive following the draft. However, ESPN’s Mike Reiss provides a potential explanation, noting that the team could still be operating on 2020 rules as they await final word on 2021 rules. Specifically, teams were allowed to carry up to 90 players if they went with the “split-squad set-up” in 2020, but they were only allowed to keep 80 players if they went with the full-team route. The Patriots fell into the latter category, and as a result, the Patriots were forced to cut bait with a handful of undrafted free agents (including some with guaranteed money) to get to the limit. The team is currently rostering 83 players (including Nordin), so the team may be awaiting clarity on rules before they add a handful of players.

Reiss also wonders if a shallow group of UDFAs could be an explanation for the lack of moves, and the reporter also notes that Bill Belichick and co. may be more interested in bringing in players on a tryout basis.

If precedent tells us anything, the Patriots will probably add at least a couple more UDFAs. If any of them (or Nodin) make the active roster, it will be the 18th straight season that an undrafted free agent has made the team, the third-longest streak in the NFL behind the Chargers and Colts (per Reiss).