Looks like the Miami Dolphins will have a new punter in 2025.
The team has agreed to terms with NFL single-season record-holder Ryan Stonehouse, as first reported by Justin Melo of The Draft Network and confirmed by a league source.
Stonehouse not only set the NFL record with a 53.1-yard average in 2022, he matched it the following season before his average dropped to 50.6 — that’s tied for 11th-highest average in NFL history.
By comparison, the Dolphins record is 50.2, set by Brandon Fields in 2012.
Stonehouse became an unrestricted free agent last week when the Tennessee Titans failed to extend a restricted free agent tender.
With the Dolphins, Stonehouse will be reunited with new special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman, who was his coach in Tennessee his first two seasons until Aukerman was fired in December 2023.
Stonehouse joined the Titans in 2022 as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Colorado State, where he played three seasons with Dolphins 2024 fifth-round pick Mohamed Kamara.
The decision not to tender Stonehouse at a minimum cost of $3.3 million — with the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) the Dolphins used on cornerback Kader Kohou — clearly was an interesting one by the Titans. That $3.3 million salary would have put Stonehouse third among NFL punters in terms of annual average, per overthecap.com.
While he’s clearly got a big leg — even after a devastating knee injury he sustained late in the 2023 season — Stonehouse’s directional punting and hang time have come under scrutiny.
While he was third in gross average last season with his 51.0 mark, Stonehouse was dead last among 29 qualifying punters in net average at 38.6. While the Tennessee punt coverage unit shared the blame, Stonehouse’s hang time of 4.12 seconds ranked 35th out of 41 punters, according to Pro Football Focus.
He was, however, in the top five in net average in both 2022 and 2023.
Stonehouse also was mediocre in terms of his inside 20/touchback ratio.
His career numbers featured 80 punts inside the 20 against 26 touchbacks, an average of slightly more than three inside the 20 for every touchback.
In 2024, only three punters around the NFL failed to top that ratio.
The addition of Stonehouse pretty much means the end of his Dolphins tenure for Jake Bailey, who was headed into the second year of the two-year contract he signed last year.
Bailey was scheduled to make slightly under $2 million in 2025 and releasing him would save that amount from the salary cap.
Contract details for Stonehouse aren’t out yet, but it’s fair to suggest he might come in around Bailey’s average of $2.1 million on his deal, which was tied for 16th-highest in the NFL among punters.
So this wasn’t so much about money and cap space as it was about potentially upgrading at the position.
Bailey had a 47.1-yard gross average last season with a net of 40.1, ranking 16th and 24th respectively.
Off the field, Bailey got married a little more than a week ago in Mexico, his wedding getting featured by People magazine.
The Dolphins now will have a fifth different punter in six seasons, with Stonehouse following Matt Haack in 2020, Michael Palardy in 2021, Thomas Morstead in 2022, and Bailey the past two years.
Agreed to terms (10)
QB Zach Wilson (Denver)
G James Daniels (Pittsburgh)
OL Larry Borom (Chicago)
S Ifeatu Melifonwu (Detroit)
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (Tennessee)
S Ashtyn Davis (N.Y. Jets)
LB K.J. Britt (Tampa Bay)
RB Alexander Mattison (Las Vegas)
TE Pharaoh Brown (Seattle)
P Ryan Stonehouse (Tennessee)
Re-signed (7)
DT Matt Dickerson
S Elijah Campbell
OLB Quinton Bell
LB Tyrel Dodson
G/T Jackson Carman
WR Dee Eskridge
OL Liam Eichenberg
Lost to another team (6)
WR Braxton Berrios (Houston)
G Robert Jones (Dallas)
S Jevon Holland (N.Y. Giants)
TE Jack Stoll (New Orleans)
LB Anthony Walker Jr. (Tampa Bay)
DT Da’Shawn Hand (L.A. Chargers)
Remaining UFAs (16)
QB Tyler Huntley
RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
WR River Cracraft
WR Anthony Schwartz
WR Grant DuBose
T Kendall Lamm
G Isaiah Wynn
DT Calais Campbell
DT Benito Jones
EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah
EDGE Tyus Bowser
EDGE Cam Brown
LB Duke Riley
CB Siran Neal
S Jordan Poyer
LS Jake McQuaide
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