New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has terminated the contract of punter Thomas Morstead.
screenshot/neworleanssaints.com
Morstead, 6-4, 235 pounds, spent the last 12 seasons in Black and Gold after being selected in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of SMU. A team captain since 2013, he made an immense contribution both on the field with the organization and with the local community.
Morstead appeared in 190 career regular season games, ranked fourth in team record books and punted 692 times for 32,190 yards for a 46.5 gross punting average and a 41.6 net, ranked second in NFL record books since the statistic was first recorded in 1976. 251 of his punts landed inside-the-20-yard line, tied for the 33rd-highest total since the stat was recorded in 1976 and the most in club record books. Morstead served as the club’s primary kickoff specialist from 2009-14 and 259 of his 532 career kickoffs have sailed into the end zone for touchbacks (48.7%). His most famous work from a kicking tee occurred as a rookie in Super Bowl XLIV, when he successfully executed an onside kick at the start of the second half that was recovered by New Orleans and led to a touchdown, nicknamed “Ambush”.
Morstead was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2012, when he was also a consensus All-Pro. Throughout his career, he has been selected as NFC Special Teams Player of the Week five times.
