Patriots signing Joey Slye, creating kicking competition with Chad Ryland

BOSTON -- As a fourth-round draft pick, kicker Chad Ryland's spot on the Patriots' roster was very secure last year. This year, he's going to have to earn that spot.

And as of now, he'll have to outperform kicker Joey Slye, whom the Patriots agreed to sign on Thursday, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss.

Slye, 28, has five years of NFL experience, kicking for Carolina (2019-20), Houston (2021), San Francisco (2021) and Washington (2021-23). Slye also has spent time with the Giants in 2019 and most recently with the Jaguars this offseason. After signing Slye in free agency, the Jaguars drafted kicker Cam Little out of Arkansas in the sixth round of last week's draft.

Slye's success rate on field goals was 79.2 percent last year, as he missed one short kick, two kicks in the 40-49-yard range, and two kicks in the 50-plus-yard range. In his career, he's successfully kicked 82.3 percent of his field goal attempts, and he was 23-for-25 (92 percent) in the 2021 season. Slye also missed three of his 35 PAT attempts last year (91.4 percent success rate) and missed four of his 28 PATs the year before (85.7 percent).

Ryland had a rough rookie season last year, missing nine of his 25 field goals for a 64 percent success rate. He did drill a 56-yard field goal to give the Patriots a victory in Denver on Christmas Eve, but he missed two of his seven kicks in the 30-39-yard range and was just 5-for-10 in the 40-49-yard range. He was 24-for-25 on PATs.