Patriots Decide on Winner Of Hotly Contested Kicking Battle Ahead Of Week 1

Patriots Decide on Winner Of Hotly Contested Kicking Battle Ahead Of Week 1
Sportsnaut Sportsnaut

Tuesday is officially the deadline for teams to make the necessary moves to get down to just 53 players. The Patriots began making cuts over the weekend, but the majority of moves have been coming in fast on Tuesday.

One of the more interesting battles to watch was the kicker position. The team used a sixth-round pick on Andy Borregales out of Miami in the 2025 draft, and most expected the rookie to run away with the competition against Parker Romo. However, Borregales was inconsistent this summer, especially from distance, while Romo performed well.

Still, the team is going with the rookie over Romo. Per Mark Daniels of MassLive, Borregales won the job and Romo has been released.

Andy Borregales won the Patriots kicking competition. Parker Romo has been released, per source

— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) August 26, 2025

It was a bit surprising considering Romo outperformed the rookie during the preseason. Borregales connected on three of his five field goal attempts and made all four of his extra point tries. Romo, meanwhile, was perfect on his two field goal and two extra point tries. Romo 90.7% of his attempts in camp while Borregales hit 83.6%.

It would appear that the team favored the rookie’s stronger work on kickoff duties. Borregales’ ability to get the ball into the endzone on kickoffs is important considering the new touchback rules.

It will be interesting to see if the Patriots can keep Romo around on the practice squad. Rookie kickers are notoriously unreliable, so having a familiar face on standby could be a wise move. However, several teams need kicking help, so there’s no guarantee Romo makes it through waivers.

More must-reads: