The Jets will formally have a brand new punter subsequent season.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Jets introduced they launched veteran Thomas Morstead after two seasons.
As well as, they signed rookie punter Kai Kroeger.
“I just got a call from the Jets that they are moving on from me,” Morstead mentioned on his Instagram account. “I simply wished to say thanks to all of the followers, all of the coaches that I labored with over the previous couple of years and teammates, it has been superior.
“I had a great experience. I’m disappointed to be moving on and disappointed with how it went down, but that’s the way it goes in this business. I appreciate everyone that’s been part of the journey.”
Morstead beforehand spent a part of the 2021 season with the Jets earlier than he was launched. He was additionally with the Saints group for 12 seasons and spent a season every with the Dolphins and Falcons.
All through all of the Jets’ struggles the final two seasons, Morstead was considered one of their extra dependable gamers. He averaged 48.2 yards per punt in 34 video games, with 55 of them contained in the 20-yard line.
Final season, amid a 5-12 report, Morstead, 39, averaged 47.2 yards per punt, which was fifteenth within the NFL. He additionally averaged 40.9 internet punting yards, which was twentieth within the league.
Nonetheless, these averages had been down from the 2023 season, through which Morstead averaged 48.8 yards per punt and 41.7 internet punting yards.
The 2025 season was the ultimate one on the two-year deal Morstead signed final offseason. The Jets will take a $500,000 useless cash cap hit, however they are going to save 2.55 million following Morstead’s launch.
Since Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and normal supervisor Darren Mougey joined the group in January, they’ve favored youth over older gamers. They presently have simply 5 gamers on the roster (Thomas Hennessy, Josh Reynolds, Tyrod Taylor, Allen Lazard and Greg Zuerlein) who’re 30 years outdated or older.
Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, and C.J. Mosley are different veterans the Jets have launched this offseason.
“It’s a young man’s game,” Glenn mentioned in the course of the NFL Annual Conferences on March 31. “You possibly can’t be afraid to play a younger participant, so if he goes on the market and he competes and he earns that job — you let him play. However each participant doesn’t do this.
“There are some gamers who don’t earn the job instantly and clearly you need that participant to take a seat again and study however to me I’ve that sort of mindset entering into. Go on the market and full and whoever the perfect participant is — that’s who’s going to play it doesn’t matter what.
Kroeger was beforehand the South Carolina Gamecocks’ punter for the earlier 5 seasons. He averaged 44.6 yards per punt in Columbia, the second-best at school historical past.
Kroeger averaged 47.8 yards per punt in his ultimate season for the Gamecocks, the fourth within the FBS. He additionally has a background as a highschool quarterback, which helped him full 7 of 10 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns on faux punt alternatives whereas at South Carolina.
Kroeger went undrafted within the 2025 NFL Draft final month. He’ll compete with Austin McNamara, whom the Jets signed in March.
Initially Printed: Might 13, 2025 at 4:37 PM EDT
