Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign K Nick Folk to compete for starting job

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed free agent veteran kicker Nick Folk on Saturday.

Folk, 32, will compete with Roberto Aguayo for the starting job this season. Aguayo was a second-round draft pick last year and he was inconsistent as a rookie, making 22 of 31 on field-goal attempts.

The New York Jets released Folk on Feb. 23 in a move to save approximately $7.5 million in salary-cap space.

Folk spent the past seven seasons with the Jets (2010-16), where he ranks first in franchise history in field-goal percentage (81.3) and second in field goals made (172). Last season, the 10-year veteran converted 27 of 31 field goals (87.1 percent), tied for sixth-best in the NFL, while making 24 of 26 extra-point attempts.

Folk, a 2007 Pro Bowler, originally entered the league as a sixth-round pick out of Arizona by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2007 NFL Draft. From 2007-09, he played in 46 regular-season games with Dallas, converting 64 of 81 field goals (79.0 percent) and all 131 extra points.

Folk also appeared in four postseason contests, where he converted three of four field goals and all 10 extra- point attempts.