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By Madison Williams
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Longtime NFL kicker Nick Folk isn't doing his best during his 19th season in the league, his first with the Atlanta Falcons.
Through nine games, Folk has missed five field goal attempts, three of which were from 50 yards or more, and he's missed one extra point attempt.
On Wednesday, the Falcons decided to release Folk and sign kicker Jake Moody. The 42-year-old will look for his seventh new home in the league now that he will leave Atlanta. He may be nearing retirement, too, especially as one of the league's oldest players.
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Folk was coming off of the game versus the Cincinnati Bengals in which he missed a 38-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter. The Falcons lost 34-17, so there were definitely other problems across the board for Atlanta, but releasing a kicker is an easy step towards making improvements.
There's kickers in the league who are having worse years (we're looking at you, Harrison Butker), but the Falcons in general aren't having a successful season. Releasing Folk could be the start of other moves the 3-6 Falcons plan to make, too, if the team continues to lose.
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The Falcons will instead turn to Moody, who's only competed in one game this season. He started the year off on the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad before they released him and re-signed him in October. He played in place of Ravens starter Tyler Loop on Nov. 5 when he was out with an injury, then the Ravens placed him back on the practice squad. In his one appearance, he made one field goal for 53 yards and made one extra point.
Moody will make his Falcons debut on Sunday when the team faces the Kansas City Chiefs. Hopefully he lasts longer than just one game for the Falcons.
This isn't the biggest move the Falcons made this week, though. Ahead of Tuesday's NFL trade deadline, the Falcons sent safety Jessie Bates to the Jacksonville Jaguars in return for a 2027 second-round draft pick and a 2028 fifth-round draft pick. Through nine games in Atlanta, Bates recorded 60 tackles, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception. He was a star on the Falcons' defense, but Bates wanted to compete for a playoff contender, and the Falcons are not looking like that right now.
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