After moving on from Marquette King in 2018, the Denver Broncos spent two seasons struggling to find consistency in the punting game. Colby Wadman wasn’t up to the task and Denver waived him in April.
During free agency, the Broncos signed former Detroit Lions punter Sam Martin to a three-year, $7.05 million contract. During a Zoom conference call with reporters on June 11, special teams coordinator Tom McMahon praised Martin for his consistency and directional punting.
“I think the one thing you’re going to find with Sam is consistency,” McMahon said. “He’s very consistent. Some people would call it boring. I love boring because he does the same thing all the time so it’s easy to gameplan on our end and it’s hard to gameplan on the other end. The other thing he’s been able to do through his career is hit the edges, so he’s going to have that returner back there working sideline to sideline.
“That’s really what we’ve been trying to do, and we want to continue to do is use that 12th man. If you use the sideline and you can push that returner to that sideline, you’ve got an extra body that’s never ever missed a tackle. That’s what Sam’s always been able to do. He’s been able to use that 12th man and he has a great career.”
Last season, Martin averaged 45.3 yards per punt with a net average of 41.8 yards. In his career, he has averaged 46 yards per boot with a net average of 40.8. Martin has pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 175 times in seven seasons.
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