The Jets will officially have a new punter next season.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Jets announced they released veteran Thomas Morstead after two seasons.
In addition, they signed rookie punter Kai Kroeger.
“I just got a call from the Jets that they are moving on from me,” Morstead said on his Instagram account. “I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans, all the coaches that I worked with over the last few years and teammates, it has been awesome.
“I had a great experience. I’m disappointed to be moving on and disappointed with how it went down, but that’s the way it goes in this business. I appreciate everyone that’s been part of the journey.”
Throughout all the Jets’ struggles the last two seasons, Morstead was one of their more reliable players. He averaged 48.2 yards per punt in 34 games, with 55 of them inside the 20-yard line.
Last season, amid a 5-12 record, Morstead, 39, averaged 47.2 yards per punt, which was 15th in the NFL. He also averaged 40.9 net punting yards, which was 20th in the league.
However, those averages were down from the 2023 season, in which Morstead averaged 48.8 yards per punt and 41.7 net punting yards.
The 2025 season was the final one on the two-year deal Morstead signed last offseason. The Jets will take a $500,000 dead money cap hit, but they will save 2.55 million following Morstead’s release.
Since Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey joined the organization in January, they have favored youth over older players. They currently have just four players on the roster (Thomas Hennessy, Josh Reynolds, Tyrod Taylor, and Greg Zuerlein) who are 30 years old or older.
“It’s a young man’s game,” Glenn said during the NFL Annual Meetings on March 31. “You can’t be afraid to play a young player, so if he goes out there and he competes and he earns that job — you let him play. But every player doesn’t do that.
“There are some players who don’t earn the job right away and obviously you want that player to sit back and learn but to me I have that type of mindset going in. Go out there and complete and whoever the best player is — that’s who’s going to play no matter what.
Kroeger was previously the South Carolina Gamecocks’ punter for the previous five seasons. He averaged 44.6 yards per punt in Columbia, the second-best in school history.
Kroeger averaged 47.8 yards per punt in his final season for the Gamecocks, the fourth in the FBS. He also has a background as a high school quarterback, which helped him complete 7 of 10 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns on fake punt opportunities while at South Carolina.
Kroeger went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft last month. He will compete with Austin McNamara, whom the Jets signed in March.
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