Previewing the Patriots punter heading into his third season in New England.
The New England Patriots overhauled a significant portion of their team this offseason, and special teams was no exception. Place kicker Joey Slye and long snapper Joe Cardona are both no longer with the club and have respectively been replaced by either Andres Borregales or Parker Romo as well as by Julian Ashby.
The lone holdover from last season among the specialists is third-year punter Bryce Baringer.
Hard facts
Name: Bryce Baringer
Position: Punter/Holder
Jersey number: 17 (w)
Opening day age: 26 (4/26/1999)
Measurements: 6’1 3/4”, 215 lbs, 30 1/2” arm length, 9” hand size, N/A Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New England Patriots (2023-) | College: Illinois (2017), Michigan State (2018-22)
Unranked as a recruit out of Notre Dame Preparatory in Pontiac, MI, Baringer originally committed to play college football at Southern Michigan but eventually changed his mind to join Illinois as a walk-on. However, after not seeing any action and redshirting his true freshman year in 2017, he decided to enter the transfer portal and moved to Michigan State.
As a Spartan, he established himself as one of the better punters in college football and one of the most prolific players at the position in his school’s history. A consensus first-team All-American during his redshirt senior season and the Big Ten’s Punter of the Year, Baringer ended his stint in East Lansing with 36 in-game appearances as well as 161 punts for 7,406 yards and an average of 46.0 yards per kick.
Due to his success, Baringer became the first punter off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Patriots used the 192nd overall pick in the sixth round to bring him in, and he has been a core special teamer for them ever since. In total, the 26-year-old has seen action in 34 games, punting the ball 168 times for 8084 yards with a 48.1-yard average.
Scouting report
Strengths: A naturally gifted punter, Baringer combines a strong leg with the ability to send the ball downfield directionally. He has shown that he can place punts well within the opponent’s 20-yard line as well as with an angle toward the sideline to neutralize dangerous returners. Providing solid hang-time, he allows his coverage unit to get down the field in time to make plays. He also has been solid as a holder on field goals and extra points throughout his career.
Weaknesses: Baringer has been a bit streaky during his first two seasons as a pro, at times stringing disappointing performances together. He also tends to put too much mustard on his punts, especially from bad field position, which in turn robs them of their direction and makes it hard for coverage to be set up. While he has the build to be a factor as a tackler, he also had a hard time finishing his attempts in 2024.
2024 review
Stats: 17 games (0 starts) | 131 special teams snaps (30.0%) | 70 punts, 3,486 yards (49.8 gross yards/punt; 41.7 net yards/punt), 17 fair catches, 10 downed, 8 touchbacks, 3 out of bounds, 32 returns, 406 return yards (12.7 yards/return), 1 return TD | 3 missed special teams tackles (100%)
Season recap: The busiest punter in the NFL during his 2023 rookie campaign, Baringer again had plenty to do as a sophomore. Kicking the ball away 70 times over the course of his second season in New England, he ranked 10th in the league in punts. Those numbers, obviously, are indicative of an offense that largely failed to get the job done in 2024.
Baringer himself, meanwhile, did. Even though he had some shaky moments — including out-kicking his coverage resulting in a 96-yard return touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as a pair of shanks in an overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 9 — he mostly was solid and one of the team’s better overall performers.
Baringer ranked fourth in the league with a gross punting average of 49.8 yards, which marked a 2.9-yard increase compared to 2023, and also finished near the top of the NFL in downed punts (10; 5th), inside-20 punts (31; 7th) and return rate (45.7%; 10th). In addition, he was tied for ninth among qualifying punters in expected points added per punt (0.07) and ranked 15th with an average hang time of 4.37 seconds.
The average return yardage surrendered by New England’s coverage team (12.7) was disappointing, though, as was the fact that he missed all three of his tackle attempts. The tackle miscues are on him (although asking your punter to make a stop is asking for trouble to begin with), while the return yardage is more complex to assess: some of the blame falls on his shoulders, but the coverage team also let him down at times.
At the end of the day, however, Baringer and the Patriots can feel good about his individual performance in 2024. He stepped up compared to his rookie season in virtually all aspects and was reliable as a holder as well. The arrow is pointing up.
2025 preview
Position: Punter/Holder | Ability: Quality special teamer | Contract: Signed through 2026
What will be his role? Baringer joined the Patriots as a punter and he will continue playing that role heading into his third season with the team. In addition, he will also serve as holder on field goal and extra point attempts. As a result, he will be involved in roughly one third of special teams snaps again.
What is his growth potential? Although he already has 34 NFL games under his belt, Baringer is still in the developmental phase of his career. Accordingly, there is room and potential for improvement across the board — starting with his consistency and aforementioned streakiness. Some coaching consistency with coordinator Jeremy Springer back for a second season should help with that, despite changes elsewhere with the kicking operation.
Does he have positional versatility? Baringer offers the versatility that is standard for NFL punters these days. Besides playing his listed position, he also serves as holder. Other than that, his flexibility at the NFL level is merely theoretical after he attempted one pass and kickoff each during his college career.
What is his salary cap situation? Entering Year 3 of his rookie contract, Baringer is carrying a cap hit of $1.075 million — 47th on the team overall and thus barely qualifying for Top 51 status. The number itself consists of a $1.030 million base salary and a fully-guaranteed $44,614 signing bonus proration.
How safe is his roster spot? While the Patriots have two place kickers on their roster fighting for one spot, the punter position has no such competition. Baringer is undisputed, and as such will be on the 53-man roster come this fall barring any incident or accident.
Summary: Baringer is a steady presence for the Patriots’ special teams unit, and will play an important role that extends beyond just punting the ball and holding on kicks. Given his relative experience compared to the other pure specialists, he also will be tasked with taking on more of a leadership role. His ability to excel in that area, as well as on the field, will determine his outlook beyond 2025 and heading toward the final season of his rookie pact.
What do you think about Bryce Baringer heading into the 2025 season? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.