The Cardinals have interest in punter Andy Lee, whom the Panthers are shopping, according to Mike Jurecki of Arizona 98.7 FM.
Arizona sifted through multiple punters in 2016, as Ryan Quigley, Drew Butler, and Matt Wile all played in at least three games for the club. Wile is the only one still left on the roster, and he’s competing with Richie Leone — who signed a futures deal with the Cardinals in January — for the starting job. As a team, Arizona was putrid on punts last season, as their 14.7 points of lost field position was second only to the Jets, per Football Outsiders.
Lee, 35, only played in nine games for the Panthers in 2016 before going down with a season-ending hamstring injury. In that time, he punted 36 times with a net average of 40.4 yards, which would have ranked 14th among NFL punters had Lee seen enough action to qualify. After reworking his contract earlier this year, Lee is signed for $1MM in 2017 and $1.1MM in 2018.
Carolina gave up a fourth-round selection for Lee at this time last year, but the club is highly unlikely to reap such compensation now that Lee is coming off injury. As Jurecki notes, the Cardinals are projected to earn four compensatory picks in 2018, meaning they could have extra ammunition with which to play.