Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly address a problem area on the roster from 2024
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers changed punters like they changed socks during the season, and it looks like they might be moving on to punter #4 since October. According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson of KPRC, the Bucs have signed Jake Julien to a futures contract, who he says the Bucs worked out last month. Julien […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers changed punters like they changed socks during the season, and it looks like they might be moving on to punter #4 since October.
According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson of KPRC, the Bucs have signed Jake Julien to a futures contract, who he says the Bucs worked out last month.
Julien is an interesting player with a lot of upside and a big leg. He played the last two season for the Edmonton Elks and led the Canadian Football League in 2024 with a 54.0 gross punting average (107 punts for 5773 yards). A native of Ontario, he played his college ball for Eastern Michigan. The Elks released him on Wednesday so that he could pursue an opportunity in the NFL.
Todd Bowles' musical chairs at the punter position began back in September, when 2022 fourth round draft pick Jake Camarda was benched in favor of practice squad member Trenton Gill, who started the next two games. After Camarda started once more against New Orleans in early October, he was released in favor of Gill.
Gill's performance wasn't much better – he averaged only 38.7 new yards per punt – over 8 games. As such, Jack Browning was signed and Gill was released in December. Browning's numbers were even worse, at just 34.6 net yards per punt over the final 5 games of the regular season.
We'll see during offseason workouts and training camp if Julien can stick around in Tampa Bay in 2025.
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