Source: Patriots choose winner in punting competition

Rookie Bryce Baringer has won the Patriots’ punting competition.

New England released veteran Corliss Waitman on Monday afternoon, per source, but the team was impressed with him and extended an offer to return on the practice squad if he makes it through waivers. The ex-Broncos punter competed well, so it makes sense that Bill Belichick wants to continue working with him.

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A sixth-round pick, Baringer was the first punter selected in the 2023 NFL Draft and looked to have the inside track all summer. He has a massive leg. Baringer averaged 51.5 yards on his 11 preseason punts and uncorked a 69-yarder. Waitman was only given five punts in those games, and averaged 43 yards per punt.

After preseason finale, Belichick was asked about the Patriots kicking competition between Nick Folk and Chad Ryland, but took a detour to laud both punters, too.

“Very competitive (kicker competition),” Belichick said. “You know, we haven’t kicked a field goal in preseason, so it’s all been touchdowns and no field goal attempts. We’ve had plenty of them in practice, and that’s what we have to go off of. They’ve both had really good camps, so that’s a pretty tight competition. Same thing with the punter situation; Corliss had two huge punts (in Tennessee), one out of the end zone, so we’ll see how that goes. It looks like we’ve got a very good competition at both of those spots.”