Jets Sign 22-Year-Old To Replace Recently Cut All-Pro

The Jets opted to cut punter Thomas Morstead on Tuesday.

Aug 17, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; New York Jets helmets during the second half against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, the New York Jets shocked their fanbase when they announced they were cutting All-Pro punter and 16-year NFL veteran Thomas Morstead. Morstead had spent the last two seasons with the Jets, totaling nearly 8,000 yards of punts in 34 games for the team.

Alongside this announcement, the Jets signed free agent punter Kai Kroeger, seemingly to replace the aforementioned Morstead. Kroeger, 22, spent the last five seasons in college at South Carolina where he grew into one of the best punters in school history.

While at South Carolina, Kroeger averaged nearly 45 yards per punt, good for the second-most in school history. He also holds the record for the most punts in South Carolina history with 265. He led the conference in punts during the 2023 season while leading the conference in punting yards in 2022.

Kroeger also threw three touchdowns over his five-year career at South Carolina. He was 7/10 on passing attempts with over 200 career passing yards.

This was clearly a move for the Jets to get younger. New York has made quite a lot of moves to head in this direction. They began the youth movement by replacing Aaron Rodgers with Justin Fields. New York also decided to cut Davante Adams, replacing him with draft pick Arian Smith.

The Jets will need Kroeger to punt like he did last season when he averaged nearly 48 yards per punt. Having a weapon like that could flip the field for the Jets throughout the season.

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