UPDATE: It’s still hard out here for a punter.
The Denver Broncos cut long-time punter Britton Colquitt before Tuesday's 2 p.m. deadline. NFL teams had to whittle their rosters down to 75 players, and Colquitt was one of the casualties.
The move will save the Broncos $3.25 million. They could use that money elsewhere such as an extension for wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
Colquitt was 28th in gross punting average last year (43.6 average yards per kick).
Rookie Riley Dixon will now take over. The Broncos took Dixon in the seventh round of this spring’s NFL Draft. He took all punting and holding snaps in the Broncos’ preseason game against the Rams and did fine. He posted a 44.6 yards per punt average. He’s owed roughly $530,000 this season.
The Broncos asked Colquitt to take a $1.4 million pay cut last year, and he agreed.
Colquitt signed a three-year $11.7 million extension in 2013 that made him the highest-paid punter in the league. Yet the figure Colquitt ends up bringing in won’t be close to matching that. NFL contracts, man.
One more round of cuts await. The Broncos have to trim their roster from 75 players to 53 by Sept. 3.
