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The Patriots will turn to their fourth kicker of the season, as they signed veteran Kai Forbath Thursday, according to a league source.
Forbath, 32, went undrafted in 2011 but still found a place in the league. The UCLA product signed with the Washington Redskins, setting the record for consecutive field goals to start an NFL career with 17 in a row. He finished his tenure with the Redskins as the second-most accurate kicker in franchise history, making 60 of his 69 field-goal attempts.
Forbath went on to kick for the New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He was the Vikings’ full-time kicker in 2017 and made a career-high 32 field goals before losing the job to rookie Daniel Carlson in the 2018 preseason. He kicked in three games for Jacksonville last season and was 4 of 5 on field goals and perfect on three extra points. Forbath was released by the Jaguars in February.
The Patriots will need to make a roster move to add Forbath, a signing that was necessary because kicker Nick Folk underwent an appendectomy Thursday morning, an NFL source confirmed, and will be unable to play Sunday night against the Texans. Folk’s procedure was minimally invasive, the NFL Network reported, meaning it should come with a quick recovery time.
The Patriots already have used Stephen Gostkowski and Mike Nugent as kickers this season. Gostkowski had to go on injured reserve Oct. 2 with a hip injury and Nugent was replaced by Folk after four games.
Nugent, Folk, and Forbath were all part of the initial workouts the Patriots held to find a new kicker once
