FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ The Patriots found their new kicker. In fact, they're bringing two aboard.
According to a source, the Pats are signing veteran Mike Nugent to replace Stephen Gostkowski, who was place on the injured reserve on Wednesday with a season-ending hip injury. Nugent, 37, beat out six other kickers for a job with the Patriots.
That's not all. According to ESPN, the Patriots are also signing Younghoe Koo to their practice squad. The 25-year-old played briefly with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017.
Nugent worked out for the Pats on Wednesday with five other kickers _ Kai Forbath, Blair Walsh, Elliott Fry and Matthew Wright. On Thursday, the Patriots worked out two more kickers in Koo and Josh Gable. Nugent, a 14-year NFL veteran, had more experience than any other kicker the Patriots were looking at.
Nugent has played for the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and most recently, the Oakland Raiders. Last season, in three games, he was 6-for-6 in field goals and 4-of-5 in extra points before a hip injury forced him to land on the injured reserve.
Nugent has made 81.4% (253/311) of his career-field goal attempts and 96.3 (363/377) of his career-extra point attempts.
Nugent started his career with the Jets, playing in New York from 2005-2008. After two short stints in Tampa Bay and Arizona, he played in Cincinnati for seven seasons (2010-2016). He split his time in Dallas and Chicago in 2017.
Koo spent the early portion of the 2017 season with the Los Angeles Chargers after beating out Josh Lambo for the kicker job. He lasted four games and was released after making just 3-of-6 field goals to go with 9-of-9 extra points. This year, Koo played with the Atlanta Legends of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football league.
With Atlanta, Koo made 14-of-14 field goals, with a long of 38 yards. He was named the AAF Special Teams Player of the Week on March 12 after making three field goals, including a game winner.
If anything, the Patriots have options as the team attempts to replace Gostkowski.
