Kansas City Chiefs release punter Dustin Colquitt
It appears that long-time Kansas City Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt and the Chiefs have parted ways.
In an Instagram post late Monday night, Colquitt expressed his appreciation for his time in Kansas City and appeared to announce that he would no longer be with the Chiefs going forward.
Colquitt has been the Chiefs' punter for 15 seasons. He was drafted by Kansas City in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
The 37-year old punter added this caption to his post:
I have enjoyed my time in Chiefs Kingdom, all things come to an end, sometimes sooner than you hoped, prayed & pleaded for them to. I’ll miss walking into the building & smelling the coffee, talking to everyone...it took me forever to weave through some of the most loving people you’d ever hope to work with. I was a young kid when I first walked into Arrowhead...hell, the indoor facility used to be 70 yards. Holding this post for 15 years has been an honor that I never took for granted. Thank you KC
Last season, Colquitt played in and won his first Super Bowl as the Chiefs beat the San Fransisco 49ers, 31-20. Colquitt owns the franchise record for the longest punt (81 yards, 2007), games played by any position (238), seasons played (15), punting yards (50,393) and punts (1,124).
The Knoxville, Tennessee, native has the third most punts downed inside of the 20-yard line in NFL history (462).
The Chiefs have signed a pair of free-agent punters this offseason. Tyler Newsome was signed before the draft and Florida punter Tommy Townsend was signed at the conclusion of the draft as an undrafted free agent.
With the departure, the Chiefs are set to save $2 million in salary cap space.
Tuesday morning update: Numerous outlets have reported that Colquitt was released by the Chiefs. Colquitt has not made any public announcements regarding potential retirement.
Tuesday afternoon update: The Chiefs announce that the release of Colquitt is official.
