Jake Bailey

Dolphins To Re-Sign P Jake Bailey

Part of a punter carousel that saw two intra-AFC East changes last year, Jake Bailey will be set for a more stable offseason in 2024. The Dolphins are re-signing the five-year veteran.

The Dolphins will give Bailey a two-year, $4.2MM accord to stick around as their punter, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz tweets. Bailey spent the previous four seasons with the Patriots. He replaced Thomas Morstead with the Dolphins.

Bailey bounced back following a down 2022, averaging 45.7 yards per punt — after he posted just 42.1 yards per boot during an injury-plagued Pats finale — during his South Florida debut. The Patriots had extended Bailey in 2022, but the team cut bait following the season.

A 2020 first-team All-Pro after averaging 48.7 yards per punt as a Patriot, Bailey saw an injury and a team-imposed suspension lead him out of Foxborough. Issues between the Pats and Bailey regarding rehab from his 2022 injury led to the suspension. This preceded the team bailing on the four-year, $13.5MM extension it authorized during the 2022 offseason. The Patriots had drafted Bailey in the 2019 fifth round.

Morstead, who soon signed with the Jets, had been the Dolphins’ punter for just one season. They want Bailey, 26, to stick around for longer. Though, with this being a punter contract, little security should be expected.

Dolphins Rumors: TEs, Elliott, Punter Competition

The Dolphins didn’t use their tight ends much in the receiving game last year and only really used two tight ends a majority of the time. With half of that duo, Mike Gesicki, departing in free agency this offseason, many were curious how Miami would address the sudden hole on their roster.

The Dolphins return Durham Smythe, who was mainly used as a blocker in their scheme last year, recording only 15 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. Smythe has had more productive seasons in the prior two years, but he still is more feared as a blocker than a receiver. The team also added two veteran free agents in Tyler Kroft and Eric Saubert in the last few months.

None of the three will threaten to provide Miami with a top receiving tight end in the NFL, but with the team’s embarrassment of riches at wide receiver, that’s hardly necessary. The veteran trio should do plenty to perform the duties asked of tight ends in the Dolphins’ offense, while Miami will look to two rookies to perhaps provide some receiving ability to the position room.

The Dolphins used one of their few draft picks on Stanford wide receiver Elijah Higgins in the sixth round. Higgins, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, will be making the switch to tight end at the NFL level. Higgins told Jackson that 28 of 32 NFL teams saw him as a tight end at the next level, despite his never having played the position before. At 6-foot-3, 238 pounds, Higgins has decent size, needing to gain a few pounds, but had strong production with 1,204 receiving yards and six touchdowns for the Cardinal in the last two years.

Undrafted rookie Julian Hill out of Campbell had a strong final year of production, as well. He ended up with 659 yards and five touchdowns in his fifth year with the Camels. The Dolphins had considered looking into the tight end position in the early rounds of the draft, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, but they ultimately decided to utilize the free agent market and lower-graded rookies.

They also have the option to re-sign veteran Adam Shaheen who spent his contract year on injured reserve last year. Coming off of knee surgery, Shaheen told Jackson that he “would love to remain with the Dolphins.” For now, though, it seems Miami is content moving forwards with Smythe, Kroft, Saubert, Higgins, Hill, and developmental project Tanner Conner.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of South Beach:

  • The Dolphins made a strong offseason addition in former Ravens and Lions safety DeShon Elliott back in March. The former sixth-round pick developed into a starter in Baltimore but struggled with injuries. His injury struggles continued in Detroit when he missed two late-season games with a shoulder injury before toughing it out in the season finale to eliminate the Packers from postseason contention. Elliott may not return for mandatory minicamp, but according to Jackson, he is expected to be ready for the regular season.
  • After allowing their one-year rental punter, Thomas Morstead, to walk in free agency, Miami signed former division rival Jake Bailey. Bailey missed some time last year due to injury and some team-enforced discipline, so it’s not much of a surprise that the Dolphins brought in some competition for the young specialist. We speculated that undrafted Oklahoma rookie Michael Turk would provide some camp competition for Bailey, and Jackson confirmed as much in a recent report. The Dolphins were eager to bring Turk in, signing the former Sooner soon after the draft ended despite Turk enticing six other NFL offers.

Patriots Notes: Bailey, Front Office, Peppers, Cardona

The Patriots hit punter Jake Bailey with a two-game suspension late during the 2022 season, with the two sides disagreeing on the player’s ability to return from injury. This decision was especially relevant considering Bailey’s $2MM in guaranteed money for 2023, money that would be void via a suspension. As a result, Bailey filed a grievance against the organization.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe passed along the outcome of that grievance (on Twitter). The Patriots owe Bailey no money but will be left with a $2.37MM cap hit for the 2023 campaign. This cap hit is likely a result of the Patriots’ expected decision to cut Bailey after the season. The team will also get a cap credit worth a bit more than $40K for the 2022 season.

Bailey recently acknowledged that the suspension caught him by surprise.

“You know, there’s a lot to unpack,” Bailey said (h/t Joe Schad of The Palm Beach Post). “And a lot of it is between them and me, partly. I’ve talked to coach (Bill) Belichick about this and how, you know, we want to talk about all this stuff. Obviously, you don’t want to end up on a list like that, ever. And, you know, confusion was a lot of it. And I think we’re just past it, now at this point. It was something that happened. And it was something that was unfortunate for both sides. And you know, now I think both parties are in a better situation.”

The veteran punter later caught on with the Dolphins, signing a one-year, $1.23MM deal. Bailey brings plenty of experience, having seen time in 58 regular season games for the Patriots since 2019. Bailey earned a Pro Bowl nod and first-team All-Pro recognition for his performance during the 2020 campaign. He inked a four-year, $13.5MM extension with New England last offseason, but a back injury ultimately spelled the end of his career in New England.

More notes out of New England…

  • The Patriots have been busy reshuffling their coaching staff this offseason, but the team has also made some changes to their front office. According to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (via Twitter), the Patriots are expected to add former Panthers vice president of player personnel Pat Stewart. The long-time executive previously had a 10-year stint in New England, winning a pair of Super Bowl rings. Per Wilson, Stewart was pursed by a number of teams around the NFL, especially those with connections to the Patriots organization.
  • Jabrill Peppersnew contract with the Patriots will see him earn a $1.08MM fully guaranteed base salary in 2023 and a $3.18 base salary ($1.82MM guaranteed) in 2024, per Wilson (on Twitter). The former first-round pick joined the Patriots last offseason and proceeded to get into all 17 games for his new team, collecting 60 tackles. He signed a new two-year, $9MM deal with New England at the start of free agency.
  • Joe Cardona‘s new contract with the Patriots made him the league’s highest-paid long snapper, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). The veteran signed a four-year, $6.3MM pact, and the deal can max out at $6.7MM with incentives. Cardona also set positional records with his $1MM signing bonus and $2.6MM in guaranteed money. The former fifth-round pick has been with the Patriots since 2015.

Dolphins, P Jake Bailey Agree To Deal

AFC East punter relocation drama is upon us. Minutes after Thomas Morstead tweeted he was moving from the Dolphins to the Jets, his previous team will add the Patriots’ previous punter.

Jake Bailey is heading to Miami, according to the Dolphins. The Jets, Dolphins and Patriots could all have new punters in 2022 (the Patriots and Dolphins definitely will; Morstead looks to be entering a competition). Saving the punter continuity for this division, the Bills re-signed Sam Martin earlier this week.

Bailey leaves New England as an All-Pro. The former fifth-round pick collected such honors in 2020, when he averaged 48.7 yards per punt and placed 56.4% of his boots inside opponents’ 20-yard lines. Last season did not go as well for Bailey, who battled a back injury and was limited to nine games. Bailey averaged a career-low 42.1 yards per punt in 2022.

This Dolphins agreement comes shortly after the Patriots waived Bailey, who had signed a New England extension last summer. The Pats moved that four-year, $13.5MM deal off their books before the extension years began. The Dolphins will bet on Bailey, who will enjoy some better punting conditions with his new team, bouncing back after a down 2022. The Pats do not presently have a punter on their roster.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/10/23

Today’s minor moves around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Waived: DB Carlins Platel

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • Signed: T Drew Himmelman

 

Bailey has been the punter for the Patriots since the team drafted him in the fifth round in 2019. He spent some time on injured reserve this past season and looked ready to return before being suspended by the team in response to missed rehabilitation appointments. In Bailey’s absence, New England relied on former Panther Michael Palardy for the rest of the season. With Palardy set to hit free agency, the Patriots will need to figure out who will be flipping the field for them next year.

Gray has been a standout special teamer for the Saints, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2021. His new contract will be his largest yet, a three-year, $9.6MM deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The deal includes $4MM guaranteed, $2.4MM at signing, and has annual playing time incentives that could pay up to $500,000 per season. The first year’s base salary of $1.1MM is fully guaranteed for injury, followed by second- and third-year base salaries of $2.5MM and $2.6MM, respectively. The new contract has an potential maximum value of $11.1MM.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/9/23

A few transactions on the first day of the postseason:

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

New England Patriots

Bailey and Jones’s suspension was lifted today by the Patriots. In addition, free agent tight end Chris Herndon and Packers offensive lineman Sean Rhyan‘s suspensions were lifted by the league.

Patriots Notes: Belichick, Patricia, Mayo

The Patriots’ offense has had a difficult time of it in the 2022 season. While the unit ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of points per game, it has posted the seventh-fewest yards per game. More importantly, second-year quarterback Mac Jones has regressed after a promising rookie season, and Jones’ struggles, combined with the offense’s problems as a whole, have led to increased scrutiny of head coach Bill Belichick‘s offseason staffing decisions.

Of course, after longtime OC Josh McDaniels accepted the Raiders’ head coaching job, Belichick installed Matt Patricia and Joe Judge as the Pats’ top offensive coaches. Patricia has served as the offensive play-caller despite not having worked as an offensive coach since 2005, and Judge has operated as the club’s offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach, despite having no coaching experience whatsoever on that side of the ball.

The general ineffectiveness of Belichick’s former staffers, both of whom had flamed out as head coaches elsewhere, means that the end-of-year meeting between Belichick and owner Robert Kraft will be of particular importance, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic (subscription required). If Kraft — like many league evaluators that spoke to Howe — believes that a shakeup is in order, one wonders how Belichick will respond. Perhaps he will agree and will bring an experienced OC aboard in an effort to maximize Jones’ talents and inject more organization and variety into the offense (the team is already rumored to be interested in a reunion with Bill O’Brien).

But if Belichick does not agree and elects to give Patricia and/or Judge another opportunity in their current roles, then Kraft could have a difficult decision to make about Belichick himself in the near future. While it seems unfathomable that Belichick would not be given the opportunity to walk away on his terms, keeping his 2022 offensive staff intact in 2023 may put the spotlight more squarely on him, particularly if some of this year’s unforced errors — blown assignments, substitution mishaps, late play calls, etc. — should persist.

Now for more Patriots notes:

  • Albert Breer of SI.com agrees that identifying the team’s 2023 offensive play-caller will be at the top of Kraft’s offseason agenda, and he pegs Patricia’s chances of remaining in his current role at less than 50% (though he does believe that Patricia will remain on the Pats’ coaching staff in some capacity). Breer confirms that O’Brien will be in the mix, though the current Alabama OC could have other NFL opportunities outside of Foxborough.
  • Add Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald to the list of pundits who believe Belichick must make a change at offensive coordinator, lest he put his own job security in jeopardy. “Kraft has to make it clear that Belichick needs to come up with real solutions, as opposed to getting his friends on the cheap with their former teams still paying them,” Guregian writes (via Peter King of NBC Sports). “If Belichick isn’t willing to budge, then Kraft has to decide whether it’s worth it to keep the status quo, or move on from his sure-fire Hall of Fame head coach and clean house.”
  • While neither Patricia nor Judge will be interviewing for head coaching positions anytime soon, linebackers coach Jerod Mayo is a different story. Mayo, 36, interviewed for the Broncos’ and Raiders’ HC positions last year, and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com expects the two-time Pro Bowler to be busy again in the upcoming coaching cycle. Mayo, for his part, is prepared for the challenge, saying, “I think I’m ready to be a head coach in the league.”
  • New England suspended P Jake Bailey and CB Jack Jones on Friday. According to Reiss, the team believed that Bailey — who had been on IR since November 19 — was ready to return to game action, but Bailey apparently believed otherwise. Jones’ suspension, meanwhile, stems in part from his missed rehabilitation appointments, which also led to his being fined by the team. Jones played in only eight snaps in the Pats’ Week 14 victory over the Cardinals due to a knee injury, and he missed the next two contests before being placed on IR on December 31. The agents for both players have noted their objections to the suspensions, with Bailey’s agent indicating that he has filed a grievance. Reiss says that it is difficult to see Bailey playing for the team again, and since his suspension technically voids the guarantees in his contract, he and the Pats could find themselves embroiled in a financial battle in the coming weeks.
  • The Patriots signed cornerback Tae Hayes to their active roster at the end of December, and Reiss tweets that Hayes’ contract is actually a two-year pact. Hayes, who appeared in 24 defensive snaps in his New England debut on January 1, is now one of six CBs under contract for 2023.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/6/23

Today’s minor moves heading into the Saturday slate of games:

Arizona Cardinals

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

  • Reverted back to IR: P Jake Bailey
  • Moved from IR to reserve/suspended by club: P Jake Bailey, CB Jack Jones

Philadelphia Eagles

 

After working out for the Chiefs yesterday and signing to their practice squad today, Wright will be promoted immediately as a gameday elevation for tomorrow’s regular season finale against the Raiders. Regular kicker Harrison Butker has been ruled out for the fifth game this year and the first time since Week 5 of the season, opening up a playing opportunity for Wright this week.

Bailey has been on injured reserve since Week 9 and was designated to return from IR around December 21, while Jones was placed on IR only a week ago on New Year’s Eve. Bailey’s return window has since closed reverting him to season-ending IR, but in one of the less common transactions seen this season, he and Jones were both moved from an IR designation to the reserve/suspended by club designation. The exact reason why each player has been suspended by the team is unclear, but it is apparently the result of two separate incidents.

Patriots Place P Jake Bailey On IR, Sign P Michael Palardy

The Patriots will shut down their punter for a while. They placed Jake Bailey on IR and signed veteran Michael Palardy from their practice squad to the active roster, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Midway through his fourth season as the Patriots’ punter, Bailey is battling a back injury. The team will need to have other plans at punter for at least four games. These will be Bailey’s first missed games as a pro.

Despite veteran Ryan Allen engaging in a rather high-stakes punting duel with perennial All-Pro Johnny Hekker in Super Bowl LIII, the Pats made a change at that position ahead of the 2019 season. They drafted Bailey in the fifth round and jettisoned their six-year incumbent. Bailey has become one of the league’s better punters since taking over.

A Stanford product, Bailey earned first-team All-Pro recognition in 2020, when he averaged a career-high 48.3 yards per punt. After posting a 47.3-yard average last season, Bailey has seen his per-boot number drop to 42.1 this year — last in the league. Bailey finished fourth and ninth in this category in 2020 and ’21, respectively.

Palardy, 30, has not punted in a game this season. He has held steady gigs previously, most recently serving as the Dolphins’ punter in 16 games last season. Also Carolina’s punter from 2016-19, Palardy averaged 44.7 yards per punt with Miami. New England added Palardy to its practice squad earlier this month.

AFC East Notes: Bills, Chubb, Moore, Bailey

The Bills were connected to a number of running backs leading up to the deadline, including major names like Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara. Bills GM Brandon Beane, who worked for the Panthers for nearly 20 years, acknowledged that he discussed McCaffrey with his former team but never made a formal offer, per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. On the flip side, Beane said he never discussed Kamara with the Saints.

Ultimately, the Bills ended up landing on Nyheim Hines, who was acquired from the Colts for a conditional draft pick and running back Zack Moss. Beane told reporters that he spoke with the Colts on Monday night but talks really heated up right before the deadline.

“Another guy with speed, experience,” Beane said of Hines (via Skurski). “He can go out there and play slot. I mean, back at N.C. State, he was a punt returner, kick returner, receiver, running back. He can just – he can do a lot of things. So, when he’s in the huddle, the defense knows he’s in the game, but they don’t know exactly where he’s going to line up. I think you’ll see that as James (Cook) gets going, too – you know, you don’t want to overload a rookie, but he’ll be used more as a receiver, slot, things like that. So this just gives us a guy who’s proven, who can add in, and we’ll see. But if we needed him to go play slot receiver for a game, once he picks up the offense, he’s got that skill set.”

Buffalo also acquired safety Dean Marlowe from the Falcons for a seventh-round pick. While neither the Marlowe nor Hines acquisitions stole headlines, Beane is confident that these depth moves will ultimately pay off in the long run.

“Neither one of these moves at 1 o’clock were anywhere near happening,” Beane said. “So if they didn’t happen, for whatever reason, I could have sat up here, said we believe in who we got, and we do, but … I’m always going to look. If it makes sense for the Buffalo Bills, today and long term, we’re going to try and make it happen. Of the two guys we got, there’s another 100-plus that we looked into. … I think we looked at, dug deep on just 10 safeties alone, but we looked at other positions – is there a chance to acquire a depth (player)? Maybe not a starter, but a depth piece, just to shore us up, should injury happen. But these were the two that we felt made the most sense.”

More notes from around the AFC East:

  • The Dolphins quickly signed their major deadline acquisition to an extension, inking Bradley Chubb a five-year, $110MM deal ($63.2MM guaranteed) earlier today. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provides some more details (via Twitter) on that guaranteed money, noting that $33.4MM of the total is fully guaranteed at signing, while $53MM becomes fully guaranteed in 2023.
  • Elijah Moore was hoping for a trade out of New York prior to the deadline, and while Jets GM Joe Douglas acknowledged that he received “some calls” on the wideout, he made it sound like the front office never seriously entertained offers (per ESPN’s Rich Cimini on Twitter). “We love Elijah,” Douglas said (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra). “We all stood on the table to take him high in the second round last year, and we think the world of him. Obviously, we’re a football family and anytime there’s an issue, we like to handle that in-house. But I was able to have a really good one-on-one conversation with Elijah. We think the world of him; we think he has a bright future as a New York Jet.”
  • Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton has been rehabbing a season-ending knee injury, and Douglas said there’s some optimism that he’ll be ready to go for next year’s OTAs (per Brian Costello of the New York Post on Twitter). The lineman specifically suffered an avulsion fracture of the right kneecap, knocking him out for a pivotal campaign. The 2020 first-round pick missed the majority of his sophomore season with a knee injury.
  • Patriots punter Jake Bailey has struggled this season, leading ESPN’s Mike Reiss to wonder if the veteran could be playing for his job. After working out a number of punters, the team ended up adding Michael Palardy to the practice squad, a further indication that Bailey’s job is on thin ice. “Right now we’re working through some things,” said special teams coordinator Cameron Achord. “Jake’s going to be OK. Jake’s a pro … He still has all the talent.” Bailey is averaging a career-low 42.9 yards per punt, and his 62.2 percent touchback percentage is also a career-worst mark.