Nick Folk is sticking around New England.
The free agent Patriots kicker re-signed with the team Thursday on a one-year, $1.625 million contract, according to multiple reports.
Folk’s deal reportedly includes $1.225 million guaranteed. He can make up to $2.5 million through undisclosed incentives.
The 36-year-old Folk enjoyed one of the best seasons of his NFL career in 2020, converting a career-best 92.9 percent of his field-goal attempts and 90.9 percent of his extra points.
Folk missed his first two field-goal tries of the season after re-signing with the Patriots midway through training camp but nailed each of his final 26. That streak of consecutive makes included last-second game-winners against the New York Jets in Week 9 (51 yards) and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12 (50 yards).
“He’s done a great job for us,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in late December. “He’s been very dependable and consistent. … Those balls that you see in the games is what it looks like in practice, too. He hits it straight, right down the middle and has been very consistent all year. Not that it was ever bad, but I’d say it’s even gotten a little bit better. His consistency has just been outstanding over the last couple of months.”
It was an impressive comeback for a player who recently had gone more than two full years between NFL appearances. Before first latching on with the Patriots midway through the 2019 season as an injury replacement for Stephen Gostkowski, Folk kicked in the short-lived Alliance of American Football in an effort to keep his career alive.
The oldest player on New England’s roster, Folk said in December that he had no plans to retire.
“There’s no inkling in me that wants to stop,” he said. “I enjoy this. I enjoy the guys, I enjoy my teammates playing football. It’s a lot of fun. I enjoy kicking. So I want to keep going, want to keep playing. … I still have a lot of leg in me.”
Folk joins future signings Justin Rohrwasser and Roberto Aguayo on the Patriots’ 90-man roster, setting up a potential three-way kicking competition in training camp.
Rohrwasser, a 2020 fifth-round draft pick, spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad after failing to beat out Folk last summer. Aguayo signed to the Patriots’ practice squad in December after being out of football for more than two years. The infamous 2016 second-round draft bust has not kicked in a regular-season game since his rookie year.
