NFL Player News

Ryland is slated to face competition from veteran kicker Joey Slye, who is in line to sign with the Patriots, Mark Daniels of masslive.com reports.

A fourth-round pick of the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft, Ryland is coming off a rookie campaign in which he made just 64 percent of his field-goal attempts (16 of 25). Though the Maryland product has a strong kicking leg, he'll need to display better accuracy in the coming months in order to hold off the challenge presented by the 28-year-old Slye, who connected on 79.2 percent of his field-goal tries with the Commanders last season.

Slye has agreed to a deal with the Patriots, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

After being released by the Jaguars earlier this week, it didn't take long for the 28-year-old to catch on with another team. With the Commanders last year, he made 19 of his 24 field-goal tries and 32 of his 35 extra-point attempts across 17 regular-season games. Now that he's with the Patriots, Slye will have an opportunity to compete with 2023 fourth-rounder Chad Ryland, who is coming off an inconsistent rookie campaign for New England.

The Jaguars released Slye on Tuesday.

Slye inked with Jacksonville as a free agent back in March, but he's now lost his spot on the roster to rookie sixth-round pick Cam Little. Meanwhile, Riley Patterson remains with the Jaguars as potential offseason competition for Little. Slye converted 19 of 24 field-goal tries and 32 of 35 extra-point attempts across 17 games with Washington last season.

Mevis is slated to sign with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Mevis made 24 of 30 field-goal attempts at Missouri last year, including a 61-yard conversion that set an SEC record. He'll now challenge Eddy Pineiro during offseason activities.

The Jaguars selected Little in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 212th overall.

Kickers are never easy to predict, but Little was a very good collegiate kicker at Arkansas, and if he performs at a similar level in the NFL then this should prove a useful enough selection for Jacksonville. Little never missed an extra point attempt in college and made four of five field goal attempts from 50 yards or more in 2023. He'll compete with Riley Patterson and Joey Slye for the Jacksonville kicking role in 2024.

The Rams selected Karty in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 209th overall.

Karty converted 23 of his 27 field-goal attempts with Stanford last season with only one miss coming from within 50 yards. The rookie is expected to compete with Tanner Brown and possibly another veteran for the team's starting kicker spot to begin 2024.

The Vikings selected Reichard in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 203rd overall.

Reichard is the NCAA's all-time leading points scorer (547). At Alabama, Reichard converted 274 of 275 extra points and had an 86 percent field goal success rate. Placekicking duties should be his in Minnesota.

The Steelers signed Wright on Wednesday.

Wright, who has had previous stints with the Steelers since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2019, has also spent time with the Falcons, Panthers, Lions, Patriots and 49ers. Now that the well-traveled 28-year-old kicker is back with Pittsburgh, he'll provide the team with depth behind top option Chris Boswell.

Dicker re-signed with the Chargers on Tuesday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Dicker ultimately signed his exclusive rights tender from Los Angeles, which was originally placed on him March 8. The Texas product connected on 31 of his 33 FGAs last season, which was good for a 94 percent conversion rate, while not missing a single PAT. He may ultimately face competition in camp, but Dicker should have the inside track on the team's kicking job in 2024.

The Packers signed Joseph to a contract Tuesday, his agent Brett Tessler reports.

Joseph gives Green Bay an experienced veteran option to compete with Anders Carlson, a 2023 sixth-round pick who converted 27 of 33 field-goal attempts (82 percent) and 34 of 39 extra-point attempts as a rookie. Joseph converted 24 of 30 field-goal tries (80 percent) and 36 of 38 extra-point attempts over 17 games with the Vikings last season.