According to a report this afternoon by ESPN's Adam Schefter, former Dallas Cowboys' kicker Nick Folk has signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets.
Folk went to New York last week to work out for both the Jets and the Giants. The signing likely means that the team will part ways with the incumbent place kicker Jay Feely, who struggled at times in 2009, and is a restricted free agent.
A Pro Bowler in 2007, Folk was released last December after struggling down the stretch. He was replaced by Shaun Suisham, who fared slightly better, going 5 for 8, but missed crucial field goals. Few in Dallas seem to believe Suisham is the answer at the position.
Some writers have since decried the move to let Folk go; the general thought is that the team could have stashed the Arizona State product on injured reserve--as Folk had hip surgery last off-season--while he sorted out any issues. Gerry Fraley at the Dallas Morning News, of course, called this the "worst decision [the] 2009 Cowboys made."
His reasoning was that Folk, a talented kicker, had a lot left in the tank; that he was snapped up fairly quickly by a team with serious playoff aspirations, I'm afraid, would seem to signal that Fraley is right on the money.
