Going into the meaty part of the 2025 offseason, there are a lot of roster competitions on the Patriots to pay attention to. They have built a 90-man team equipped with a lot of talent, but that means some impressive players won't make the season's roster, some of whom will become more obvious over the next month.
Among the more prominent battles of the summer is the one between rookie kicker Andy Borregales and John Parker Romo. Both are vying for that starting role after the new regime decided not to re-sign Joey Slye.
Although it might be too early to declare who the ultimate winner will be, all signs are already pointing to the Miami alum, Borregales, to earn his spot on the 53-man roster, as he has consistently outperformed his teammate throughout OTAs.
The battle of the kickers might already be decided for the Patriots
As OTAs come to a close this week, there has been a lot of talk about the players who stood out the most versus those who appeared to fall behind. All eyes have presumably been on the wide receivers, as there are 12 currently signed to the roster, but the kicker competition might be stealing the spotlight.
The reason for this is Borregales, who has rarely missed kicks during practice, unlike Romo, and has seemingly led some reporters, such as Mark Daniels, to believe that Borregales has already secured his spot on the team.
"Andy Borregales continues to look like the real deal.
On Monday, the rookie kicker was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goal attempts. Once again, the Patriots had their kickers start in the 30s and work their way up to the 50s. Borregales never missed while his competition, Parker Romo, finished 2-of-4 on the day.
Borregales is the massive favorite to be the Patriots placekicker this season."
It's a vastly different scenario than the Patriots have found themselves in over the last few years, as having a consistent and reliable kicker has evaded them. It has been a problem since Bill Belichick decided to let go of Nick Foles in favor of Chad Ryland, who was eventually released and became a solid weapon for the Cardinals last year.
The special teams is a unit that the Patriots hope to revamp and become one of the best in the league, much like they had during the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era. With coordinator Jeremy Springer already impressing in his first season on the team and promising players signed to the roster, it looks like they're well on their way to accomplishing that.
It'll be even easier if Borregales can keep up his performance and translate it to game day this fall. The Patriots won't have to worry about having their kicker on the field anymore, much like they have the past two seasons, and forcing the offense to go for it on far too many fourth downs.