Jets sign Ficken to solve kicking woes, waive Vedvik
NEW YORK (AP) — Next up on the Jets' constantly spinning kicking carousel: Sam Ficken.
New York signed Ficken, their fourth kicker since July, on Tuesday to try to solve their ongoing kicking woes.
The team also announced it waived Kaare Vedvik after he missed an extra point and a 45-yard field-goal attempt in the Jets' 17-16 season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The Jets have been searching for a reliable kicker after allowing Jason Myers, who made the Pro Bowl last season, to leave as a free agent and sign a four-year, $15.45 million contract with Seattle in March.
New York opened training camp with Chandler Catanzaro, who surprisingly retired after a shaky preseason opener during which he missed two extra points. Taylor Bertolet replaced him, but also had issues. He missed two extra points in his first game, and then kicked two field goals to account for all the scoring in a 6-0 victory over Philadelphia — but missed three other attempts.
Vedvik was claimed off waivers from Minnesota on Sept. 1, and Bertolet was waived.
Ficken was signed after the Jets had several young kickers in for tryouts at the team's facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, including Greg Joseph, Younghoe Koo, Elliott Fry and Tristan Vizcaino.
Ficken was with Green Bay during training camp before he was waived among the Packers' final cuts. The former Penn State standout has also spent time with Jacksonville (2016), Kansas City (2017), the Los Angeles Rams (2017-18) and Seattle (2019).
Ficken is 3 for 6 on field goals in four career games, and is 1 for 2 on extra points.
