Former New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski said back in April that he was "not ready to just hang it up" after he was released by the club he'd spent his entire 14-year NFL career with. While the 36-year-old kicker may be looking to continue his NFL career, it appears like it'll have to be under specific circumstances. Former Patriots quarterback and current team color analyst for 98.5 The Sports Hub Scott Zolak reported on Friday that Gostkowski was pursued by two AFC teams this offseason and the kicker turned down both of them.
"Waiting for the right situation," said Zolak during his midday show on the station.
Gostkowski played in just four games for the Patriots in what ended up being his final year in Foxborough after landing on injured reserve due to a hip injury that required season-ending surgery. Prior to going down for the year, he did struggle to begin 2019, which could be attributed to the injury. He converted 87.5% of his field goals, but his extra-point conversion rate dipped to a career-low 73.3%.
When healthy, however, he's still a reliable option. For his career, Gostkowski has converted 87.4% of his field goals and has netted 95.3% of his extra points since the NFL elected to move those attempts back in 2015. That said, health doesn't appear to be a massive problem for the three-time Super Bowl champion, as he noted back in April that he was feeling good. Given that it's been around five months since that positive update and there has been no news of any setbacks, he should be able to jump into a situation and compete for a starting kicking job whenever he finds a suitable situation. Really, it seems like it'll come down to the proper fit for Gostkowski in his hunt to find a new NFL club.
The Patriots, meanwhile, selected rookie placekicker Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round of the 2020 draft out of Marshall and he will take over for Gostkowski going forward.
