Thomas Morstead - Pro Football Rumors

Jets To Sign P Thomas Morstead; Team Shopping P Braden Mann

March 17th, 2023 at 5:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

5:55pm: What a punter day this is turning out to be. The Jets are now shopping Mann in trades, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Trade discussions have taken place. No punter trades occurred last year, but two — involving Corey Bojorquez and Ryan Santoso — took place in 2021. One involved a pick-swap with a sixth-round return; the other sent back a seventh-rounder. The Jets would save just more than $1MM by cutting Mann.

2:35pm: The Jets will give Thomas Morstead a chance to play a 15th NFL season. They have agreed to a deal with the veteran punter, per said veteran punter (on Twitter).

Best known for his lengthy Saints tenure, Morstead was with the Jets in 2021. The team added him in September of that year but cut him two months later. Robert Saleh‘s squad is circling back to the 37-year-old specialist, who spent last season with the Dolphins, punting in all 18 of Miami’s games.

Initially brought in as a Braden Mann injury fill-in two seasons ago, Morstead again joins a Jets team with Mann on the roster. The former sixth-round pick is going into a contract year. Mann averaged a career-high 46.9 yards per punt in 2022 and played a career-most 27 punts inside the 20-yard line, ranking 17th and 12th in these respective categories. Morstead dropped 28 punts inside the 20 and averaged 46.4 per boot.

If the Jets are keen on having a punting competition, Morstead will bring 14 years’ experience and one Pro Bowl (2012) to that matchup. Morstead spent 12 seasons with the Saints before moving from New York to Atlanta to Miami over the past two years. He also placed 46% of his punts inside the 20, while Mann finished his third season at 33% in that category. Mann is only tied to a $1.1MM cap number in 2023.

Dolphins To Sign P Thomas Morstead

April 8th, 2022 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins have signed punter Thomas Morstead, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (on Twitter). This comes just 48 hours after the veteran’s audition in South Beach.

Morstead made his name with the Saints, enjoying a 12-year run that included a Pro Bowl nod in 2012. However, the 36-year-old was dropped in the middle of the Saints’ numbers crunch.

Morstead first entered the league as a 2009 fifth-round draft pick. After earning a ring as a rookie, he signed multiple extensions to stay in New Orleans through 2020. His He caught on with the Jets in mid-September, replacing the injured Braden Mann. But, with Mann eventually designated for return, Morstead’s services were no longer needed in New York and he was cut.

The veteran averaged 48.2 yards per punt with the Jets, his best average since 2016. His spent the second half of the season with the Falcons, where he averaged 46.1 yards on his 22 punts.

The accomplished punter is now in line to replace Michael Palardy, who is out of contract.

Dolphins Work Out P Thomas Morstead

April 6th, 2022 at 7:43pm CST by Ben Levine

The Dolphins are still seeking a punter, and they’ve turned their focus to a former Saints mainstay. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the team worked out punter Thomas Morstead today.

Morstead, 36, first entered the league as a fifth-round draft pick by the Saints in 2009. After earning a ring as a rookie, he signed multiple extensions to stay in New Orleans through 2020. His 12-year stint with the organization included a Pro Bowl nod in 2012. Morstead was released in the middle of the Saints’ 2021 numbers crunch.

He caught on with the Jets in mid-September, replacing the injured Braden Mann. But, with Mann eventually designated for return, Morstead’s services were no longer needed in New York and he was cut. The veteran averaged 48.2 yards per punt with the Jets, his best average since 2016. His spent the second half of the season with the Falcons, where he averaged 46.1 yards on his 22 punts.

Michael Palardy was the Dolphins punter in 2021, but the veteran remains unsigned.

Falcons Sign P Thomas Morstead

November 23rd, 2021 at 8:27pm CST by Ben Levine

Thomas Morstead has found his next gig. The Falcons announced that they’ve signed the veteran punter. Morstead also confirmed the signing on Twitter.

There’s a chance Falcons punter Dustin Colquitt is forced to miss Sunday’s game due to COVID-19 protocols. Morstead would be a temporary fill-in, and there’s a good chance he’ll earn his walking papers once Colquitt is back in the lineup.

Morstead, 35, first entered the league as a fifth-round draft pick of the Saints in 2009. After earning a ring as a rookie, he signed multiple extensions to stay in New Orleans through 2020. This year, the Saints were more than $100MM over the cap, so he was released in the middle of their numbers crunch. Morstead landed with the Jets in mid-September, replacing the injured Braden Mann. But, with Mann designated for return, Morstead’s services were no longer needed and he was cut.

The veteran missed only two games in his 12 Saints seasons and punted in all seven of his Jets contests, bringing his career total to 197 appearances. Morstead was averaging 48.2 yards per punt with the Jets, his best average since 2016.

Jets To Release P Thomas Morstead

November 8th, 2021 at 8:27am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets will release punter Thomas Morstead today, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link). As a post-deadline cut, Morstead will be available on the waiver wire for the league’s other 31 teams.

Morstead, 35, first entered the league as a fifth-round draft pick of the Saints in 2009. After earning a ring as a rookie, he signed multiple extensions to stay in New Orleans through 2020. This year, the Saints were more than $100MM over the cap, so he was released in the middle of their numbers crunch.

Morstead landed with the Jets in mid-September, replacing the injured Braden Mann. But, with Mann designated for return, Morstead’s services are no longer needed.

The veteran missed only two games in his 12 Saints seasons and punted in all seven of his Jets contests, bringing his career total to 197 appearances.

Jets To Sign P Thomas Morstead

September 14th, 2021 at 4:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints ended Thomas Morstead‘s lengthy tenure as their punter this offseason, but the 12-year veteran landed another gig. The Jets are signing Morstead, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Morstead worked out for the Jets on Tuesday.

An injury to punter Braden Mann forced the Jets to use rookie kicker Matt Ammendola as an emergency punter Sunday against the Panthers. Mann is expected to miss at least a month with a knee sprain. The Jets placed their primary punter on IR Tuesday.

Morstead began his New Orleans tenure ahead of the team’s Super Bowl-winning 2009 season. He signed multiple extensions to stay in that role, but the Saints were more than $100MM over the cap this year. That forced them to bid farewell to several key cogs from the Drew Brees era, Morstead among them.

Since joining the Saints, Morstead missed only two games in 12 seasons. He made the Pro Bowl in 2012. Having lost Mann early in his second NFL season, the Jets will turn to the 36-year-old specialist for the time being.

Saints Cut Thomas Morstead

March 4th, 2021 at 1:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Saints are cutting a long-time member of the team. New Orleans has released punter Thomas Morstead, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football confirmed (Twitter link). The news was first reported by Nader Mirfiq (on Twitter).

The move frees up about $2.5MM in cap space. The team unusually kept UDFA rookie Blake Gillikin on the active roster at the beginning of last year before placing him on injured reserve, perhaps signaling they viewed him as the punter of the future. Morstead was more than just the team’s punter, he was also a leader in the locker room and fan favorite due to his long tenure and consistent performance.

Drafted by the Saints in the fifth-round all the way back in 2009, he’s been with them for the past 12 seasons. He’s never missed a game during that span, and he won Super Bowl XLIV with the team. Still only 34, he should have plenty left in the tank physically and should be able to find a new home.

The highest-paid punter in the game for a while, Morstead made the Pro Bowl in 2012 and was also a second-team All-Pro that year. On a zoom call with the media shortly after the news broke, Morstead confirmed he plans to play elsewhere and said last year’s drop in production was due to lingering injuries, Underhill tweets.

He also thanked the fans and Saints, saying “I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and thanks. … My whole experience with the organization has been outstanding,” via another tweet from Underhill.

Extra Points: Bennett, NFLPA, Cap, Kirksey

March 10th, 2020 at 9:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although Michael Bennett went through a nomadic late-2010s stretch after the Seahawks traded him in 2018, he remained productive. The veteran defensive lineman has registered 15.5 sacks over the past two seasons and is a free agent for the first time since 2013. Bennett, who signed with the Seahawks in 2013, would like to return to the team to which he’s most linked. Asked if he would want to play for the Seahawks again, the 34-year-old defender said “hard yes.” Bennett, though, has not yet committed to playing a 12th NFL season.

“I would love to end my career in Seattle,” Bennett said, via Joe Fann of NBC Sports Northwest. “It’s not up to you, though. It’s up to the team.”

The Seahawks gave Bennett two contracts, including a three-year, $31.5MM extension in 2016. That contract was set to run through 2020, but after the Eagles and Patriots traded him, Bennett and the Cowboys restructured the deal to direct him toward free agency this year. Seattle has most of its pass rushers — including Jadeveon Clowney and Jarran Reed — as impending free agents, so the franchise will have critical decisions to make in the next week and change.

Here is the latest from around the league, moving first to the reconfigured NFLPA:

Russell Okung has enjoyed an eventful March, being traded from the Chargers to the Panthers and filing an unfair labor practice charge at the NFLPA staff. As for Okung’s status with the union, he will no longer be part of the NFLPA’s executive committee, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Okung dropped his bid for NFLPA president, throwing support behind Michael Thomas in a race that went to Browns center J.C. Tretter. Both of the players Tretter beat out for the job — Thomas and linebacker Sam Acho — will stay on as executive committee members.
Calais Campbell, Malcolm Jenkins and Wesley Woodyard will replace Mark Herzlich, Zak DeOssie and Adam Vinatieri on the executive committee. They will join Tretter, Acho, Thomas, Richard Sherman, Ben Watson, Alex Mack, Lorenzo Alexander and Thomas Morstead on the 11-man committee, the union announced.
Rumblings about the salary cap rising to around $230MM by 2021 have surfaced, but the 2020 cap will not move too far from the previously estimated $200MM amount. If the players approve the CBA proposal, the highest the cap would surge to in 2020 would be $206MM, per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic (subscription required). While the salary ceiling could climb significantly by 2023, if the league’s TV negotiations go well, those spikes will not come until at least 2021.
Christian Kirksey may have a chance to land on his feet before free agency. Recently released by the Browns, the veteran linebacker has three visits scheduled, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. Kirksey’s travel itinerary is not yet known, but the 27-year-old defender’s first visit is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The Texans will take a look at a notable wide receiver soon. They will work out former Broncos rotational cog Jordan Taylor, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes. Taylor has not played since the 2017 season. He spent 2018 on the Broncos’ PUP list, and though he caught on with the Vikings last year, the 28-year-old target did not see game action.

Saints, Thomas Morstead Agree To Extension

March 16th, 2018 at 1:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have signed punter Thomas Morstead to a new five-year contract (Twitter link via Omar Ruiz of NFL.com). Morstead was heading into final year of his old contract, but the new pact will keep him under contract through 2022.

The deal is worth $20MM with roughly $9MM guaranteed. As Ruiz notes, Morstead acted as his own agent in the negotiations, not unlike new 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman.

Last year, Morstead averaged 47.0 yards per punt, good for eighth-highest in the league. His net average of 42.2 yards per attempt placed him sixth amongst all punters, behind Brett Kern, Johnny Hekker, Marquette King, Rigoberto Sanchez, and Michael Palardy.

Saints Rework Contracts For Jordan, Morstead

March 29th, 2016 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Saints have been busy in free agency within the last couple weeks, adding players like Craig Robertson, James Laurinaitis, and Nick Fairley to new contracts while also matching the Bears’ offer sheet for tight end Josh Hill. It wasn’t clear initially how the cap-strapped Saints were creating room for all their new contracts, but Evan Woodbery of The Times-Picayune has shed some light on the subject.

According to Woodbery, New Orleans has restructured the contracts for defensive end Cameron Jordan and punter Thomas Morstead to create a little cap space. Woodbery writes that the moves have pushed the Saints back up to $3.03MM in available cap space, after that figure had been reduced to $273K last week. Still, the new figure doesn’t include Fairley, so even if the team has room to squeeze in the defensive tackle’s new contract, additional restructures or releases will eventually be required.

For Jordan, it was the second time in two months that the Saints have tweaked his contract, giving him more money up front. In February, the team created $4.8MM in cap room by converting Jordan’s $6MM roster bonus into a signing bonus. Now the club has also converted most of his $3.5MM base salary into a signing bonus — by reducing his salary to $765K, the Saints create a $2.73MM bonus, which will be prorated over five years, opening up $2.184MM in cap space for 2016.

As for Morstead, he got a $2.1MM signing bonus, with his $3MM base salary reduced to $900K. That bonus prorates over three seasons, creating $1.4MM in cap savings for 2016. The veteran punter’s 2017 and 2018 cap numbers have increased to $4.7MM and $4.85MM respectively as a result of the restructure.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.