Thomas Morstead, NY Jets, Stats, Sign, Contract
Thomas Morstead, New York Jets, Getty Images

New York Jets upgrade their punter position by reuniting with Thomas Morstead

At last, the New York Jets have made a clear upgrade in free agency.

Per the man himself, punter Thomas Morstead is returning to the Jets.

Morstead, 37, is entering his 15th NFL season after a successful 2022 campaign with the Miami Dolphins. Morstead ranked 10th-best out of 34 qualified punters in puntEPA per punt at +0.07, according to Puntalytics. The veteran was a master at pinning teams deep as he ranked fifth-best with 45.9% of his punts being downed inside of the 20-yard line. He only kicked two touchbacks all season and did not have any punts blocked.

Morstead played seven games for the Jets in 2021 as he temporarily replaced the injured Braden Mann. He was excellent in that season as well, finishing the 2021 season ranked fourth in puntEPA per punt. Morstead also played seven games for the Falcons in 2021.

The arrival of Morstead will at the very least provide competition for Mann, who has been a disappointment since the Jets drafted him in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. Mann ranked 24th in puntEPA per punt this past season.

We shall see what the terms of the contract are, but Morstead should be considered the favorite to take the field as New York’s opening-week punter in 2022. Even at this stage of his career, he remains a significantly better punter than Mann. Not only that, but he is still one of the top punters in the game.

This is a great pickup by Joe Douglas, filling a sneaky hole on the roster.

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Michael Nania
Michael Nania is one of the best analytical New York Jets minds in the world, combining his statistical expertise with game film to add proper context to the data. Nania scrapes every corner, ensuring you know all there is to know about everyone from the QB to the long snapper. Nania's Numbers, Nania's QB Grades, and Nania's All-22 give fans a deeper and more well-rounded dive into the Jets than anyone else can offer. Email: michael.nania[at]jetsxfactor.com - Twitter: @Michael_Nania

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Mike Palazzo
Mike Palazzo
6 months ago

Glad to hear. Punters and kickers play very important roles in setting up defenses and capitalizing drives for the offence. Really sucks when the opposing team don’t have to drive the length of the field to put up points and its a major disappointment when the kicker can’t put 3 up on a drive that stalled in scoring territory.

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