Saints have had bad luck with punters before, and after, Thomas Morstead’s reign
The New Orleans Saints released their punter in 2024, Matthew Hayball, on Wednesday after just one year with the team. Unless they re-sign Hayball, the Saints will have a different punter in 2025 for a fourth consecutive season. Punter has been a position that’s been a revolving door for the Saints for several decades. Dating all the way back to placekicker/punter Russell Erxleben, a first-round bust taken with the 11th overall choice in the 1979 NFL draft, the position has often been a carousel of unsuccessful or inconsistent players for the franchise.
Only a few punters have been the exception to this rule. Brian Hansen had success with the Saints for five seasons through the mid-1980s, making the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 1984. Mitch Berger arrived to New Orleans in the middle of a well-traveled career in 2003 and was a standout for three seasons, earning a Pro Bowl bid in 2004. Sean Payton named Steve Weatherford his punter in 2006, but after cycling through three different punters in 2008, he chose to go in a new direction.
By far the best punter to wear a New Orleans uniform has been Thomas Morstead. A fifth-round choice by the Saints in the 2009 draft out of SMU, Morstead was with New Orleans for 12 seasons through 2020. While too often overlooked in Pro Bowl voting, Morstead was annually among the best punters in the league for both power and placement. He left the Saints with an outstanding average of 46.5 yards per punt, frequently giving the team a field position advantage that Drew Brees rarely squandered.
Morstead was released by the Saints after the 2020 campaign. In the five offseasons since, he’s been with five different teams and is currently with the San Francisco 49ers. While he remains a very good punter, the Saints have failed to find a suitable replacement:
First was Blake Gillikin in 2021, who Morstead helped train as his replacement. Gillikin lasted two years and had a 47-yard gross average with 61 punts placed inside the opposing 20-yard line, but often struggled with consistency and placement.Lou Hedley beat out Gillikin in 2023, but lasted just one year with a 43-yard average while putting 31 punts inside the opponent’s 20.Last year’s punter was Matthew Hayball, who beat out Hedley in training camp. Hayball had solid raw numbers with a 44-yard average and 41 punts inside the 20 of the opposition, and was effective on fake punts, but also had trouble with placement and consistency. The Saints saw enough to move on after the first few weeks of training camp.
Barring the signing of another leg during the preseason, the Saints punting competition is between undrafted rookies Kai Kroeger (South Carolina) and James Burnip (Alabama). In an ironic twist of fate, New Orleans looks to face at least two of their last four punters in 2025. Blake Gillikin currently faces no competition as the incumbent for the Arizona Cardinals, who the Saints play in the regular season opener on Sept. 7. Assuming he holds onto the 49ers job, Thomas Morstead returns to the Caesars Superdome the following week on Sept. 14. Facing Morstead might be the cruelest irony because of the team’s lack of success in trying to replace him.