Tag: Thomas Morstead

Surprising Saints rookie leads his position group in NFC Pro Bowl votes

After the first week of Pro Bowl voting, it’s New Orleans Saints rookie punter Matthew Hayball ahead of his peers in the NFC:

With the start of the 2025 Pro Bowl voting starting officially just week ago, we have received our first update on the current leaders of each position group in the league. You can cast your vote here.

As the New Orleans Saints have fallen apart with many injuries sustained over the course of the year, it was highly unlikely that they’d have any Pro Bowl players let alone a top vote-getter.

Turns out, that just might not be the case. Undrafted rookie punter Matthew Hayball currently leads the NFC in Pro Bowl votes at his position. Quite a pleasant surprise, isn’t it?

For those who may not know, Hayball is currently first in the NFC with 29 punts pinned inside the 20. That’s eight more than the next-closest player.

Diving a little bit deeper into the statistics, one may say that Hayball has punted 50 times this season tying him for third most the conference. However, in comparison to the punters’ ahead of him in this category, Hayball has been far more efficient in terms of forcing opponents into poor field position.

Hayball also ranks in the top five in total punt yardage and touchbacks but for the most part is somewhere between average and the bottom of the conference elsewhere. This is likely indicative of Hayball not having the biggest leg but makes up for it with his ability to accurately place his kicks.

Credit to special teams guru, now head coach Darren Rizzi, as well as the teams scouting department for locating Hayball this offseason. The Saints potentially have their long term solution at the punter position, after years of searching for Thomas Morstead replacement, a former franchise hero and Super Bowl XLIV champion.

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Thomas Morstead reacts to NFL eliminating surprise onside kicks

The surprise onside kick was already in danger, but now it’s extinct. Saints legend Thomas Morstead is just happy to have played a part in its memorable story:

Surprise onside kicks were already an endangered species in the NFL, but a new rules change is pushing them into extinction. As part of a new hybrid kick return model being trialed in 2024, teams must declare whether they’re trying an onside kick — something that’s really just a formality after previous rules changes made the play obvious.

Thomas Morstead became a New Orleans Saints legend for executing the team’s surprise onside kick, the “Ambush” play, to start the second half of Super Bowl XLIV. So for him this was a poignant moment. Morstead expressed his gratitude for having a place in NFL history as part of New Orleans’ championship-winning team.

Ironically, Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi spearheaded the effort to change it while envisioning a model that will lead to more return opportunities (which you can read about here). Onside kicks were scarce in recent years, and successful recoveries were even more of a rarity, so this was a small sacrifice to make. As Morstead observed, “The game continues to change.”

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Contract details for Jets punter Thomas Morstead

Contract details for Jets punter Thomas Morstead

The Jets wanted to make sure they kept their star punter Thomas Morstead around for a little while longer. They did just that by giving Morstead a two-year contract worth $5.1 million.

The deal includes $2.21 million guaranteed with a $1 million signing bonus. Morstead also has $340,000 ($20,000 per game) in per-game roster bonuses for 2024 and $425,000 ($25,000 per game) for 2025.

Morsteads cap hit for 2024 will be $2.05 million and $3.05 million in 2025.

Morstead’s average of $2.55 million per year ranks 11th among punters, per Spotrac.

Morstead is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He averaged 48.8 yards per punt on an incredible 99 punts last season. His 36 punts inside the 20 were a career high.

The Jets did well to keep their special teams aces around for another year between Morstead and kicker Greg Zuerlein.

Thomas Morstead shares excitement of two more years with Jets on Twitter

Thomas Morstead is grateful for two more years with the Jets.

Thomas Morstead isn’t going anywhere. The Jets’ punter was locked in for another two years and he shared his excitement on Twitter with his contract signing and his family.

Morstead took to Twitter Tuesday and simply said “March 13 @ 4:01pm.”

One can believe he was ready to break his own news about sticking with the Jets for two more years but the news leaked out about an hour prior. “Cat’s out of the bag!” Morstead said on Twitter.

The news may have leaked early but it just meant an early celebration for Jets fans, who really began embracing Morstead after he gave the Jets one of the best seasons of his career on his first full season in New York — he split the 2021 season between the Jets and the Falcons.

In the end, Morstead was an easy bet to return to New York for what will be his 16th and 17th seasons. Now it’s official.

Jets solidify special teams unit, re-signing P Thomas Morstead

The Jets solidified their special teams unit for 2024 by re-signing punter Thomas Morstead, who was one of their most valuable players.

The New York Jets are re-signing one of their most valuable players from the 2023 season, agreeing to a new deal with punter Thomas Morstead, and solidifying their special teams unit in the process.

Morstead spent most of his career with New Orleans, but rejoined the Jets for the 2023 season where he was a field-tilter for them. Due to the Jets’ lack luster offense, Morstead led the NFL in punt attempts with 99, but as much as a punter can, he made an impact with those opportunities.

The 48.8 yards per punt that Morstead averaged ranked 10th in the NFL. Out of his 99 attempts, only eight ended up as touchbacks, while he also ranked second in punts inside the 20 yard line—two of which played a key role in the defense recording a safety.

Oftentimes the play of the punter can go unnoticed, but a really good punter benefits both the offense and the defense. Morstead’s ability to pin opposing offenses deep forces the opponent to have to drive the length of the field, often stringing together 10-plus play drives to do so, which is not an easy feat to consistently accomplish in the NFL.

However, if the defense is able to get a quick stop, the Jets’ offense then benefits from good starting field position since the opponent is punting from deep in their own territory.

“You force a team to have to drive the field that far, more likely than not they’re not gonna score,” D.J. Reed said via the New York Post. “And then, they’re not getting past our 50, so when they have to punt, we’re gonna be inside plus territory for ourself to score a field goal or touchdown.”

Morstead was a key contributor to a Jets’ special teams unit that ranked third in the NFL last season in Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings.

The contract specifics have not yet been reported but what we do know is that Morstead will earn north of $5 million over the two-year deal. At around $2.5 million per year, that will make Morstead the eighth highest paid punter in 2024 by average annual value.

With Morstead back in the fold, along with also re-signing kicker Greg Zuerlein, who was one of the most steady kickers in football last season, the Jets are again positioned well to have one of the better special teams units in football this season.

“He’s one of those things that when you have a great one, it’s like, ‘Wow,’ said Garrett Wilson via the NY Post. “All of a sudden, you’re getting the ball on the 50, plus-50, whatever it may be. When you don’t have one, you feel it. Those type of things can go by the wayside, but we’re making sure we don’t take that for granted, man. In this league, any edge you can get is an edge, and he’s a weapon, bro.”

Garrett Wilson to wear No. 5 in 2024, gets number passed on by Thomas Morstead

Thomas Morstead officially passed on the No. 5 to Garrett Wilson

Jersey No. 5 was officially passed on Monday as punter Thomas Morstead handed the number over to wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

It had already been known since April that Wilson would eventually change his jersey number from 17 to 5, the number he wore at Ohio State.

Morstead donned the number one last year in 2023 before passing the torch as it were to Wilson, who will continue to grow his own legacy with his old college number.

Wilson has started his career with two seasons reaching 1,000 yards receiving and came five catches short of hitting 100 this season. All this while playing with multiple quarterbacks in such a short time. One can only wonder how his numbers can improve with steady quarterback play.

Jets’ biggest Pro Bowl snubs

A look at four players on the Jets that had a case to be selected to the Pro Bowl.

The Jets landed two players in the 2024 Pro Bowl Games. Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner are heading to Orlando in February to take part in the various events such as flag football and the tug of war.

However, even with the Jets at 6-10, there are a few players who made a strong case to be selected for the Pro Bowl that came up short. They could still make the roster as an alternate, but for now, they’re left empty-handed. Let’s talk about some of those players here.

No Saints players led their positions in 2024 Pro Bowl Games fan voting

No current New Orleans Saints players led their positions in fan voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, but two of their former teammates did:

This is tough. No current New Orleans Saints players led their positions in fan voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, but two of their former teammates did while playing for other teams: New York Jets punter Thomas Morstead and Miami Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead both led the AFC in fan votes at their positions.

Maybe the Saints shouldn’t have let them go. Morstead was teammates with Armstead in Miami last year, but he’s continuing to play at a high level in the years since the Saints cut him to open the door for his successor Blake Gillikin. Gillikin was also released earlier this year in favor of Lou Hedley, who has experienced an up-and-down rookie year in the NFL.

As for Armstead: the Saints’ uncertainty at left tackle speaks for itself, though his situation was more complicated. On top of the serious salary cap implications involved, Armstead’s injury history made it tough to justify re-signing him. Even if they had kept Armstead, they would need an expensive insurance policy. Injuries have limited him to just 9 games this season for the Dolphins.

Fan voting is just one part of the process — coaches and the players themselves will also have ballots, so it’s possible some Saints players end up making the cut. And there’s always the possibility they can get in as alternates should starters opt out or are unavailable while playing in the Super Bowl. The NFL announced positional leaders in fan votes on Wednesday, with the AFC and NFC player rosters scheduled for release at 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network and NFL+.

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Thomas Morstead makes case for himself, Jets’ specialists to make Pro Bowl

Jets punter Thomas Morstead recently spoke with Jets Wire and said he would love for himself, Greg Zuerlein and Thomas Hennessy to all make the Pro Bowl.

Jets punter Thomas Morstead has been to the Pro Bowl just once in his 15 NFL seasons. That was back in 2012, his fourth year in New Orleans. He would love for 2023 to be his second trip to the Pro Bowl and made his case on Twitter.

Morstead very much has a case to be selected for the Pro Bowl. At 37 years old, Morstead is having one of the best seasons of his career. He is averaging 49.4 yards per punt and he has punted an incredible 81 times this season, tied with Jamie Gillan of the Giants. Only his 2012 Pro Bowl has seen Morstead have a higher punting average (50.1) and Morstead has already punted seven more times this season than he did all of 2012.

Morstead is tied for 3rd in punts inside the 20 with 28 and has done a fantastic job of pinning opponents near their goal line. Morstead is a key reason the Jets have three safeties this season.

Morstead would also love to see his fellow specialists join him in Orlando this season. Morstead made a case for kicker Greg Zuerlein and long snapper Thomas Hennessy.

“Look, Greg has missed one kick all season and that was a 52-yarder of the uprights (Week 4 vs. Kansas City),” Morstead said about his kicker recently to Jets Wire. “He’s been huge.”

Zuerlein has converted 27 of his 28 field goal attempts and 10 of 11 extra points this season.

Like Morstead, Zuerlein has also been to the Pro Bowl just once, back in 2017 with the Rams. His 96.4% success rate this season would stand as a career-high. He was successful on 95% of his kicks (38 of 40) in his 2017 Pro Bowl season.

As far as Hennessy goes, Morstead notes that he has been with the Jets seven seasons and hasn’t made a Pro Bowl but made sure to note he has been a key reason for the success on special teams this season as well.

“I think it would be a really cool thing for him to get a chance to go,” Morstead said about Hennessy. “He’s been a huge part of our success. You don’t have kickers and punters that are operating at Pro Bowl levels if they don’t have a snapper that’s operating at a super high level.”

Hennessy is currently the longest-tenured member of the Jets, joining the team in 2017. He signed a four-year extension worth $4.4 million back in April, a deal that gave Hennessy the most guaranteed money ($1.27 million) for a long snapper in the NFL.

Hennessy’s snaps are a big reason why Morstead has been able to get punts off so easily and why Zuerlein has been near perfect in his field goal attempts this season. It would be quite the highlight, and make plenty of sense, if all three specialists wind up going to Orlando for the Pro Bowl.

5 takeaways from Jets’ dominant 30-6 win over Texans

Here are five of our immediate takeaways from the Jets’ lopsided 30-6 win over the Texans in Week 14.

The New York Jets put an end to their five-game skid with an impressive, dominant outing against the Houston Texans in Week 14 with a score of 30-6. For one of the first times this season, the Jets got a collective effort from all three phases to produce a victory.

With the win, the Jets improved to 5-8 on the season as Zach Wilson returned as the starting quarterback following the release of Tim Boyle. After a first half where both teams punted on every offensive drive, the Jets found their rhythm in the second half.

In what was a much-needed win for morale, here are five takeaways from the Jets’ blowout win over the Texans in Week 14.