re: Would you be in favor of a 5th or 6th round pick saving 7.5M cap space next 2 yrs?

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True story. Saints won the Super Bowl with a rookie punter that was 29th in the NFL with net average and 17th in NFL with punting average. Generally, his net average has been a bit more impressive than his actual distance average on punts. Probably punts a bit more hang time... Saints cover teams have to get a bit of credit for that as well. I've never been overly impressed with morestead's pinning accuracy. He's mr. punt it to 10 yrd line like clock work when sometimes you'd expect a bit better pinning when you evaluate his contract. I'm averaging his net avg/and distance avg ranking in nfl from every year: 2016 5.5 2015 13.5 2014 5.5 2013 5.5 2012 2 2011 3 2010 9.5 2009 23

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The flip side of that true story.

I'd argue that net average is a much better indicator of a punter's quality as compared to actual distance. A punter that boots is 20 yards longer but into the end zone is much less effective than one that pins opponents inside their 20. The same can be said of punters who outkick their coverage and allow bigger returns.

So below are Morestead's net punting NFL rankings:

2016 5th
2015 10th
2014 2nd
2013 3rd
2012 1st
2011 2nd
2010 11th
2009 32nd

As you can see, from 2011-2016 he has been ranked in the top 5 every year but one and in the top 10 every year. In 4 of those 6 years he has been ranked in the top3. IMO that is significantly elite and deserving of getting paid. Now, you might be right that $4.6M is at the upper edge of what a punter is worth. I won't argue that. But I think we are getting elite production from the position and would focus my attention to the many other areas where our production is lacking. That's the only point I'm trying to make.