Jordan Stout Has a Chance to Be the NFL's Best Punter for the Giants

When the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh as their new head coach, expectations were that improving special teams would be a priority.

Harbaugh didn’t disappoint, making it a point to overhaul the entire room by adding a new kicker, punter, and long snapper.

The one specialist coming over with Harbaugh from the Ravens is punter Jordan Stout, Harbaugh’s punter from the day he stepped foot in the NFL.

Harbaugh has essentially marked Stout as “his guy,” even going so far as to use a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on him.

Stout isn’t the perfect punter, but he has the physical ability to be the best punter in the NFL, with a leg capable of punting for hangtime and placement, but also just booming the ball and flipping the field.

Punting has become more valuable of late, as teams are prioritizing the field-position battle. It’s also been an area where the Giants have struggled with achieving consistency.

Thanks to Stout’s big play ability, the Giants can theoretically flip the field and put an opponent inside their own 20 without even picking up a first down.

Jordan Stout, P

Height: 6-3
Weight: 209
EXP: 5 Years
School: Penn State
How Acquired: FA-’26

2025 in Review

Stout’s 2025 saw him lead the league in net punting with 44.9 yards per punt. With 50.1 total yards per punt, Stout had the fifth-highest distance per punt. That, the coverage team, and the ability to avoid major backspin yardage helped the Ravens win field position.

Hangtime was nonexistent, however, as Stout’s 4.14-second average was the second-lowest average in the NFL. Part of that is because of some more “line drive” style punts, as well as punts that go out of bounds.

The hangtime shouldn’t be much of a concern because no players run a 4.14 40-yard dash (basically how far gunners have to cover punts). The 4.14-second hangtime does not include the time between snap and punt, which gives gunners more real time to cover ground.

In 2025, Stout had the third-longest punt of the season at 74 yards, without the benefit of the thin air that Broncos punter Jeremy Crawshaw gets to enjoy.

Contract/Cap Info

The Giants entered free agency and signed Stout to a three-year, $12.3 million contract, with $6.32 million fully guaranteed at signing.

That contract makes Stout the highest-paid punter in the NFL in terms of annual average value (AAV), and as it presently stands, would make him the highest-paid punter in both 2027 and 2028.

Stout should be considered a relative lock to make the Giants roster in 2026 and 2027, as there isn’t enough financial incentive to move on from him.

However, should the Giants move on from this year–again unlikely–they would incur a dead cap penalty of $4.32 million with no cap savings.

2026 Preview

The legendary winds at MetLife Stadium have caused agita for many opposing kickers, but there is good news on that front for Stout, who has punted there in two games: against the Jets in 2022 and against the Giants in 2024.

In those two games, Stout punted 8 times for 383 yards for an average of 47.9 yards per punt with a net average of 41.7 yards per punt.

Interestingly enough, despite Stout’s generally low hangtime, he averaged a hangtime of 4.92 seconds per punt in MetLife, which would have been the longest hangtime in the NFL last season by .12 seconds.

While the wind can cause chaos, Stout’s leg strength has been enough to overcome it. This Giants team has good, but not great, athletes toward the bottom of the roster, so who steps up and shows their ability to cover ground quickly as gunners will be important to the overall success of the punt team.

If Stout can get both distance and hang time consistently, the Giants' punting unit will cause fits for opposing teams.

As an added bonus, with the Giants expected to have a strong pass rush and arguably the best outside linebacker room in the NFL, the ability to pin opponents deep and let the edges go to work could be game-changing.

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