Patriots Sign Ex-Broncos Punter Following Jake Bailey Release
FOXBORO — The New England Patriots have filled their vacancy at punter by signing third-year veteran Corliss Waitman, most recently of the Denver Broncos.
Despite receiving an exclusive rights tender from the Broncos this offseason, Waitman became an unrestricted free agency on Tuesday when the team signed veteran punter Riley Dixon.
The Patriots signing of Waitman was officially announced by the team on Thursday evening.
The native of Ghent, Belgium appeared in 38 games during his collegiate career at South Alabama. Waitman handled kickoff and holding duties, in addition to punting. He was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as a junior after averaging 45.24 yards per punt to set the school record. During his tenure with the South Alabama Jaguars, Waitman booted 58 punts which were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Waitman joined the league in 2020 as an undrafted rookie free agent by signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He spent 2021 training camp with the Las Vegas Raiders. Waitman was released by the Raiders at the end of camp in August and was signed by New England to the practice squad on Nov. 23. His stay in Foxboro would be short-lives, as was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers to their 53-man roster, where he suited up for two games.
After being released by Pittsburgh, he was claimed off waivers by Denver and played in all 17 games with the Broncos last season. The 27-year-old averaged 46.6 yards (41.4 net yards) per punt across a league-leading 96 boots, 30 of which were downed inside the 20-yard line. He also ranked within the top 10 of the league with an average hang time of 4.37 seconds.NIn Week 3, Waitman punted 10 times, six of them inside the 20-yard line, in an 11-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers, earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Overall, he has played in 19 NFL games and had 103 punts for 4,835 yards for a 46.9-yard average.
Waitman will succeed 2020 All-Pro punter Jake Bailey, who was released by the team earlier this month. Prior to his placement on season-ending injured reserve due to a back injury, Bailey was struggling to find both power and accuracy. The Stanford product averaged 35.3 net yards per punt, which was last in the league among qualified punters.
Bailey, who recently signed with the Miami Dolphins, was relieved by veteran punter Michael Palardy. The 30-year-old played in eight games for the Pats, punting 42 times (one of which was blocked) for a net average of 37.1 yards per punt.
Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL and Listen/Subscribe to his daily podcast: Locked On Patriots
Follow Patriots Country on Twitter and Facebook
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Patriots? Click Here
More Patriots coverage from Sports Illustrated here.
