Falcons signing K Jake Moody, releasing K Nick Folk

The Falcons released Nick Folk on Tuesday, ending a brief marriage that began with a two-year, $9 million contract and the expectation that the league's most accurate kicker of the previous three seasons would stabilize a position that has plagued Atlanta for years. Instead, Folk converted just 13 of 18 field goals and missed an extra point through nine games. The breaking point arrived Sunday in Cincinnati when a 38-yard attempt — well inside the range where Folk had been automatic since 2017 — sailed wide in the fourth quarter of a 34-17 loss. That miss snapped a streak of 107 consecutive made field goals from inside 40 yards and came one week after a 53-yarder fell short in Tampa Bay. Head coach Kevin Stefanski's public tone shifted noticeably after the Bengals game; where he had previously expressed unwavering confidence, he offered only that Folk "knows we're counting on him" and declined to rule out a change.

Jake Moody, 26, was signed off the Ravens' practice squad after a single appearance for Baltimore last Thursday in which he drilled a 53-yard field goal in a downpour against Jacksonville. Moody's career has been nomadic since San Francisco made him a third-round pick in 2023: he hit 84 percent as a rookie, slumped to 72 percent in 2024, then bounced to Chicago, Washington and Baltimore this season, going a combined 19-of-23 with the Bears and Commanders. His career rate sits at 78.3 percent (65-of-83), but the Falcons are betting on the leg strength that produced a 57-yard career long and the allure of kicking primarily indoors at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — a factor Moody himself cited, according to a league source.

The move leaves Baltimore scrambling. Tyler Loop, the Ravens' primary kicker, is on injured reserve with a groin injury and expected to miss at least three more games. Moody was the second kicker Baltimore elevated this season; now the Ravens need a third. For Atlanta, the calculation is simpler: a younger kicker with proven range replaces a 42-year-old whose accuracy collapsed in real time. Folk's guaranteed $4 million becomes dead cap, but the Falcons decided the cost of missed kicks — potentially lost games in a tight NFC South — was higher.

Moody's first test comes Sunday against the Saints in New Orleans, a division game where field position and fourth-quarter points often decide the outcome. The Falcons have cycled through Younghoe Koo, Riley Patterson and now Folk since 2023 without finding stability. Moody represents a different profile: draft capital, age on his side, and a resume that shows he can make the kicks Folk recently could not. Whether the indoor environment and a full week of preparation with a new holder and snapper translate to immediate consistency is the only question that matters now.