The Broncos will bail on Sam Martin‘s contract after two seasons. They are releasing the veteran punter Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Martin had been competing with Corliss Waitman for Denver’s punting gig. Money looks to have motivated this transaction, however.
Martin’s three-year contract carried a $2.25MM base salary for 2022. The Broncos will pocket that amount by cutting their incumbent punter, who had no guarantees remaining in his three-year, $7.05MM deal. That money was behind this release, per 9News’ Mike Klis, who notes the team was informed Sunday that Martin would not accept a pay cut (Twitter link).
Martin’s 46.0-per-punt average ranked just 18th in the NFL last season, despite playing in Denver’s friendlier punting confines. The former Lions punter, who is going into his age-32 season, should still generate interest on the market.
This move also comes after the Titans released former Broncos punter Brett Kern, putting two veteran punters in free agency. Both were vested veterans, passing them through waivers.
Waitman, 27, has just two games’ worth of NFL experience. Both came in 2021 for the Steelers. Pittsburgh waived Waitman in January, leading to a Denver claim. It could well lead to the South Alabama alum being the Broncos’ Week 1 punter. Waitman is only set to make $825K this season.
didn’t even get to beat it up
Cool another option for the Bills to sign.
Shuffling off to Buffalo?
Titan’s kicker Kern seems like the top choice
Martin has been solid for his career, but Kern played very well recently. I would expect him to be higher up on the list of free agents.
To me, $2.25 million seems like a minuscule amount to pay for good punting, but if Waitman is actually better than Martin, it would be an easy choice.
Do you really need any NFL game experience to kick a football?
Yes.