FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The Folk Hero is back in The Big Apple.
Veteran kicker Nick Folk signed with the New York Jets on Tuesday, reuniting with the franchise for which he played for seven seasons from 2010 through 2016.
The 40-year-old Folk will compete with rookie Harrison Mevis for the kicking job this season for new head coach Aaron Glenn and special teams coordinator Chris Banjo. Rookie Caden Davis, who was competing with Mevis, was waived by New York earlier in the day.
“Listen, he is a very established kicker in this league,” Glenn said of Folk. “When you go back and you look at his stats from the last couple of years, man, they’ve been above board. And I’ve said this from the beginning: Anybody that can help us win games, man, we’re going to take a look at that.”
Folk was nicknamed “Folk Hero” during his first stint with the Jets for his ability to make crucial kicks, particularly during the second of New York’s consecutive runs to the AFC championship game under Rex Ryan in the 2010 season.
His 729 points rank second on the Jets’ franchise list, trailing only Pat Leahy (1,470). In 104 games with New York, Folk was 175 of 213 on field-goal attempts (82.2%) and 204 of 206 on extra points.
“I’m happy that he chose us, all right,” Glenn said, “to be a part of what we’re trying to do.”
Folk kicked the last two seasons for Tennessee, which chose to move on from him in the offseason when the Titans signed Joey Slye. Folk previously played four years for New England, where he had a career resurgence.
He was a sixth-round draft pick of Dallas in 2007 out of Arizona and was selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie. After three years with the Cowboys, he signed a free agent deal with the Jets in 2010. His 56-yard field goal that season set a franchise that has since been eclipsed. Folk booted a 32-yarder with 3 seconds left to beat Indianapolis in the AFC wild-card round.
Folk signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 2017 and struggled with an injury before being released. He was out of football until signing with Arizona of the Alliance of American Football in 2019.
In other roster moves Tuesday, the Jets signed running back Lawrance Toafili and offensive lineman Liam Fornadel and waived/injured center Gus Hartwig, who left practice Monday with a knee injury.
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