NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans are trying a proven veteran in their latest effort to fill a big need on special teams.
The Titans traded a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the New England Patriots before the NFL’s roster cut deadline for 38-year-old kicker Nick Folk. Tennessee took that step Tuesday — with the deal pending Folk passing a physical examination — after trying a pair of undrafted free agents (Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff) during much of the offseason and training camp before turning to journeyman Michael Badgley for the preseason finale.
The 6-foot-1, 222-pound Folk has played 211 games in 15 NFL seasons with the Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He set the league record by making 64 consecutive field-goal attempts of less than 50 yards, and he set the New England mark with 36 straight field goals made from September 2020 to October 2021. He has made 353 of 426 (82.9%) field-goal attempts in his NFL career, with 12 of his field goals winning the game.
Badgley lasted exactly one game in Nashville, just like his previous stint with Tennessee, though his time with the Titans two years ago was in the opener to the regular season. This time around, he was cut Sunday after the 23-7 win over the Patriots last week in the third and final preseason exhibition for each team. He banked in his first of three made field goals off the left upright and hooked a 39-yard attempt wide left.
Folk was selected by the Cowboys as a sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame in the 2007 NFL draft and spent his first three seasons in Dallas before playing the next seven for the Jets. He appeared in four games for the Bucs early in the 2017 season before being released and did not play in the NFL in 2018 before returning with the Patriots the following year.
In four years, Folk made 89.3% of his field-goal attempts in 57 games with New England. He was 32-of-37 last season, including 4-of-5 on kicks 50 yards or longer, and made 32-for-35 on extra-point attempts.
In Tennessee, Folk will have a chance to become the 12th kicker to try a field goal or extra point for this franchise since 2019. The Titans will visit the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 10 to open the season.
The position of kicker has become a carousel for Tennessee after the job was held for years by the likes of Al Del Greco, Joe Nedney, Rob Bironas and Ryan Succop. Three kickers played for the Titans last season, while Randy Bullock was one of two used in 2021 with Stephen Gostkowski among two in 2020.
Bullock was a salary cap casualty this offseason with Tennessee needing to free up space for free agents at other positions.
Tennessee’s trouble at kicker started in 2019 after an injury to Succop, and the Titans wound up having five kickers on the roster that season. Finding a dependable leg has been quite the challenge for the Titans and coach Mike Vrabel.
Meanwhile, Cade York will work on his kicking aim and accuracy in Tennessee.
Released by the Cleveland Browns after they made a trade to replace him, York cleared waivers and signed Wednesday with the Titans to be on their practice squad rather than stay with the team that drafted him in the fourth round last year.
York’s tenure with the Browns came to a crashing conclusion after he struggled during the exhibition season, missing half of his eight field-goal tries. He had a potential winning kick blocked in the final minute of Saturday’s exhibition finale against the Kansas City Chiefs, perhaps the final straw for the organization that had supported him throughout the summer and an inconsistent rookie season.
The Browns were interested in bringing York back on their practice squad, but the 22-year-old opted for a change of scenery. On Monday, the Browns acquired kicker Dustin Hopkins from the Los Angeles Chargers for a seventh-round draft pick.
The Titans did not announce York’s addition among their roster moves Wednesday. They filled their practice squad, though they have an international exemption for tight end Thomas Odukoya. They also claimed defensive back Kindle Vildor off waivers from the Chicago Bears and waived center Corey Levin, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout. Tennessee also waived defensive back Josh Thompson and running back Jonathan Ward after reaching injury settlements with both players.
A day earlier, the NFL placed Titans running back Hassan Haskins, a fourth-round draft pick in 2022, on the commissioner exempt list for an argument during a breakup with a girlfriend that led to both being arrested in June. The Titans placed Haskins on injured reserve Monday, and he can’t attend games while on the list.
The Titans kept undrafted rookie Caleb Murphy. The outside linebacker led them with four sacks this preseason after setting the NCAA single-season record with 25.5 last season while helping Ferris State win the Division II national championship.
They also placed cornerback Caleb Farley, their 2021 first-round pick who was placed on injured reserve that November with a back injury, on the physically unable to perform list. Farley was not home last week when his North Carolina home exploded — fire investigators announced Tuesday that they had determined a natural gas leak was the cause — but his father was killed and a family friend was injured.