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.