Bryan Anger will be staying in Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports (via Twitter) that the punter has signed a five-year, $17MM extension with the organization. The extension will presumably keep Anger under contract through the 2021 season. The veteran’s $3.4MM average annual salary ranks in the top-5 among NFL punters (via Stroud).
“We brought Bryan here this past offseason believing he had the ability to be one of the best punters in the NFL and he performed as such in 2016,” said general manager Jason Licht (via the team’s website). “We are always happy to reward our own players and thrilled to be able to keep Bryan with the Buccaneers for years to come.”
Anger joined the Buccaneers this offseason after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Jaguars. A third-round pick in 2012 (Anger was selected ahead of players like Russell Wilson and T.Y. Hilton), the special-teamer averaged 46.8 yards per punt during his tenure in Jacksonville. Despite the relative success, the Jaguars ultimately decided to move on from Anger and sign punter Brad Nortman.
Despite the presence of punter Jake Schum, the Buccaneers decided to add Anger on a one-year contract. The veteran punter also received interest from the Panthers while he was a free agent.
This decision certainly benefitted the Bucs, as Anger is having one of the best seasons of his career. Despite “only” averaging 45.9 yards per punt, the 28-year-old has established career-bests in net average punt (42.4), punts inside the 20 (32), returns (23), and return yards (128). Anger is on track to set several franchise records, and he earned a role as a Pro Bowl alternate for his performance.