Nobody shops for a punter in late August
Yet that is where New England found themselves on Monday. Matt Haack is signing with the Patriots, per ESPN.
Blame one play. Bryce Baringer went down during Saturday’s preseason win over Philadelphia, and Mike Vrabel said out loud afterward that the team needed a punter. Two days later they had one.
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Thirty-two years old, and a resume that keeps moving
Haack was in Washington until last week. Signed this summer to cover for an injured Tress Way, then released once he was no longer needed. A few weeks, a paycheck, a plane ticket home.
Arizona came before that. Seven games last season, the ninth of his career, 25 punts, a 51.3 gross average and 43.4 net. Good numbers on a sample too small to mean much.
That is the shape of his career now. Twelve games across three seasons, after six years as a full-time starter to open his time in the league.
Miami, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Cleveland, New York, Arizona
Six teams in nine years. The Dolphins from 2017 through 2020, then the Bills, Colts, Browns, Giants and Cardinals. New England makes seven.
The career file reads 478 punts in 110 games, 45 yards gross, 39.9 net. Not spectacular. Not a problem either. Precisely the profile a front office dials when a specialist goes down in camp.
Baringer is still waiting on his diagnosis.
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