The Washington Football Team announced the release of kicker Chris Blewitt and replaced him with Joey Slye, essentially swapping out a young kicker with local ties for another.
We have made multiple roster moves:
-Signed K Joey Slye
-Released K Chris Blewitt— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) November 9, 2021
The move to release Blewitt, who is from Fairfax, Virginia, and went to West Potomac High, comes less than three weeks after the team signed him off the practice squad to replace veteran kicker Dustin Hopkins.
Blewitt’s time with Washington only lasted two games. He converted on only two of five field-goal attempts — two of which were blocked — and went 2-for-2 on extra-point attempts.
For Slye, like Blewitt before him, signing with Washington is a homecoming of sorts; the North Stafford High School graduate grew up in Stafford, Virginia, and played four years at Virginia Tech.
Slye also reunites with head coach Ron Rivera, whom he played for in Carolina. Slye spent two seasons with the Panthers, making 54 of 68 field goal tries (79.4%) and 64 of 71 (90.1%) extra point attempts.
This season, Slye connected on 11 of 13 on field goals over a combined six games as an injury replacement for the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers.
Slye is known for having a big leg; this season, he matched his career-long with a 56-yard field goal for the 49ers but is just 9 of 17 from beyond 50 yards in his career.
WTOP’s Rob Woodfork contributed to this report.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The name of the high school Slye attended has been corrected.
