Peter King Perplexed By This Decision From Patriots’ Bill Belichick

Peter King can’t understand why Bill Belichick seemingly was hellbent on the Patriots turning a new leaf at a certain position.

New England used valuable draft capital on a kicker in two of the last four drafts. The Patriots used a 2020 fifth-rounder on Justin Rohrwasser, who barely even sniffed the NFL, and grabbed Chad Ryland in the fourth round this year. The jury still is out on the Maryland product, but New England could have used his draft slot on a far more pressing need.

All the while, Nick Folk was rock-solid for the Patriots from the time he arrived in Foxboro, Mass., in late October 2019 through the 2022 season. And the Tennessee Titans, who traded for Folk in late August, watched the 38-year-old go a perfect 16-for-16 on field goals and 8-for-8 on extra points through the first six weeks of the season.

As such, King understandably is confused about why Belichick was so determined to run Folk out of town.

“Folk made 90.4% of his field-goal attempts for New England in the last three years,” King wrote in his latest Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports. “Entering his age-39 season, Folk was not re-signed by the Patriots, and he signed with Tennessee. New England picked Maryland kicker Chad Ryland in the fourth round of the ’23 draft, three years after picking Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round. Rohrwasser never played in an NFL game. Ryland is 4-for-8 early in his NFL career. What, exactly, is wrong with Folk, and why did Bill Belichick spend so much draft capital and scouting energy trying to replace him?”

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The Patriots currently have far greater concerns than the kicking game, but going the extra mile to move on from Folk marks yet another head-scratching personnel decision from Belichick. Even if the future Pro Football Hall of Famer stays on to coach New England next season, it might be time to let someone else run football operations for the Patriots.