FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Kicker Roberto Aguayo, who has been out of the NFL for almost three full seasons after entering the league as a second-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016, is attempting to revive his career on the New England Patriots‘ practice squad.
The club is planning to sign Aguayo on Saturday, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates. It is a belated Christmas gift for the 26-year-old Aguayo, whose career took a dramatic turn after the Buccaneers selected him with the 59th overall pick in 2016.
Aguayo was highly touted coming out of Florida State, having made all 198 of his point after attempts and 69 of 78 field-goal attempts. He was the top kicker selected in the draft since the New York Jets took Mike Nugent in the second round in 2005 (No. 47 overall).
Aguayo went 22-of-31 on field goals as a rookie, struggling notably late in the season, and then the Buccaneers signed veteran Nick Folk in the offseason to compete for the top job. Folk won the job in the 2017 preseason; he is currently the Patriots’ kicker and in the midst of a career year at age 36.
Aguayo was claimed by the Chicago Bears in 2017 but released after less than a month, and spent six weeks of the 2017 season on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. He spent the 2018 offseason and preseason with the Los Angeles Chargers, but was released at the end of the preseason, and has been out of the league since.
In New England, Folk is a free agent after the season. The Patriots also have 2020 fifth-round pick Justin Rohrwasser on their practice squad, and the addition of Aguayo could be an indication that his development hasn’t gone as smoothly as the club envisioned.