FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Kicker Roberto Aguayo, who left the NFL for nearly three full seasons after entering the league as a preliminary pick in the second round of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016, is trying to revive his career on the New England Patriots Training Team .
The club plans to sign Aguayo on Saturday, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates.
Aguayo’s career took a dramatic turn after the Buccaneers picked him his 59th general election in 2016. He was highly regarded leaving Florida after scoring all 198 points after trying and 69 of 78 target attempts. He was the best kicker selected in the draft since the New York Jets took Mike Nugent in the second round in 2005 (number 47 overall).
Aguayo went 22-of-31 on field goals as a rookie, struggling especially at the end of the season, and then the Buccaneers signed veteran Nick Folk in the offseason to compete for the top job. Folk won the post in the 2017 pre-season; he is currently the Patriots kicker and in the middle of a 36-year career.
Aguayo was claimed by the Chicago Bears in 2017, but was released after less than a month and spent six weeks of the 2017 season on the Carolina Panthers training team. He spent the off-season and pre-season 2018 with the Los Angeles Chargers, but was released at the end of the pre-season and has since left the league.
In New England, Folk is a free agent after the season. The Patriots also have Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round of 2020 on their coaching staff, and the addition of Aguayo could be an indication that Rohrwasser’s development has not gone as well as the club predicted.