FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have released kicker Nick Folk and signed Jake Moody in a corresponding move.
The Falcons have also activated offensive lineman Cameron Williams off injured reserve. Williams was placed on IR with an ankle injury in mid-September after the Falcons acquired the second-year player after initial roster cutdowns at the end of August.
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Folk joined the Falcons at the start of the new league year in March. After a few seasons with low returns in the kicking game and multiple kickers taking the field for Atlanta as the organization searched for consistency, Folk came in as a picture of the consistency the Falcons needed.
Coming into the 2026 season, Folk had scored the 16th-most points in league history. Folk spent the 2025 season with the New York Jets and made 96.6% of his field goal attempts, which was the best rate in the NFL.
Folk led the league in field goal percentage each of the last three seasons and had converted at least 95% of his attempts during that time. He had also made 18 kicks from at least 50 yards during the last three seasons, which was the most of any three-year period in his career.
What's more, Folk is 10th on the all-time NFL field goals made list with 444, which is the highest among active NFL players.
However, the Falcons did not see this level of output from Folk as the 2026 season began.
Through nine games with Atlanta, Folk had a 72.2% field goal percentage, making just 13 of his 18 attempts. This included missing two field goals in Week 1 and a 53-yarder in Week 2. In the last three weeks, Folk missed an extra point attempt against the 49ers, another 53-yard field goal in Tampa and, most recently in Madrid this past weekend, a 38-yarder.
The final miss actually snapped a pretty significant streak for Folk. He had made 107 straight field goal attempts between 0-39 yards. It was the longest streak over the last 40 years.
Folk has only noted a 75% field goal percentage or lower twice in his 18-season career, and hasn't been below 82.4% since returning to action in 2019 after not playing in the 2018 season.
"I expect Nick to make his kicks," head coach Kevin Stefanski said after the Falcons loss to the Bengals. "Nick expects to make his kicks."
In a corresponding move, the Falcons signed Moody off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad.
Moody was originally selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, making him just the second kicker to be selected within the top 100 picks in the last 15 drafts at the time.
Moody finished his rookie year converting 21-of-25 field goals and 60-of-61 extra points. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team that season. He regressed in his second season, converting 24-of-34 field goals. To start the 2025 season, Moody made 1 of his 3 field goals in the 49ers season opener. He was waived by the 49ers a couple days later.
Since then, Moody has spent time with the Bears, Commanders and Ravens.
One of the biggest moment over the course of those stops came in October of 2025 when Moody was elevated ahead of the Week 6 matchup against the Commanders. Moody made 4 of his 5 field goal, his only miss technically a blocked kick. He set a franchise record for the Bears for the most successful field goals in a debut for the Bears.
At the time, Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham was the assistant general manager for the Bears. It would seem Moody made the right impression.
Immerse yourself in the subtle drama of the Falcons-Bengals meetup at Bernabéu Stadium with our monochrome snapshots from Week 9.
