The Kansas City Chiefs are signing free agent punter Tyler Newsome, according to NFL Draft Diamonds and later NBC’s Pro Football Talk. It’s a one-year contract, according to The Kansas City Star.
Chiefs signing punter Tyler Newsome https://t.co/zm4hlHBYil
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 8, 2020
Newsome spent last offseason with the Los Angeles Chargers after going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Chargers released Newsome at the 53-man roster cutdown, and he did not sign anywhere else the rest of the season.
The 6-foot-3, 218-pound punter played college football at Notre Dame from 2015-18. The Chiefs could save $1.95 million against the cap by moving on from veteran Dustin Colquitt, who has served the Chiefs as starting punter since 2005. The Chiefs did something similar last season when Jack Fox was signed to the 90-man roster and brought back to the practice squad later in the year to provide some competition there.
Here is the writeup from NFL dot com draft analyst Lance Zierlein, which he wrote ahead of last year’s draft:
Newsome is a power-based punter with the ability to put together a big game like he had at Vanderbilt, where he had three punts of 60-plus yards, but he is much too inconsistent in striking the ball. Unless he can add better touch and consistency, he won’t be able to make it in the league.
Off the field, Newsome is known for his rare upper body strength as a specialist and mullet.
.@NDFootball punter Tyler Newsome has Championship plumage.#Mullitia pic.twitter.com/yh80VhVt8H
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) August 31, 2018
“It’s kind of a wake up-and-go look,” Newsome told ESPN in 2018.
Numbers from NFL.com
2015: 44.5 avg., 21 of 55 inside the 20, eight touchbacks, seven fair catches; (21 touchbacks on 84 kicks)
2016: 43.5 avg., 16 of 54 punts inside the 20, three touchbacks, seven fair catches
2017: 43.6 avg., 19 of 63 punts inside the 20, four touchbacks, 17 fair catches
2018: 44.7 avg., 19 of his 53 punts inside the 20, nine touchbacks, 13 fair catches