91 Buffalo Bills players in 91 days: punter Jack Browning

The Buffalo Bills had three punters on their roster at the end of May. However, before the start of June, one of those punters was released. So goodbye, Matt Haack. I’d say we barely knew you, but as a frequent flyer on the Bills roster over the past few seasons, that wouldn’t be true.

Rather than a three-way competition for the punting game this season, it appears to be a two-way street. Two men will enter the arena, but only one will win the title of Buffalo Bills scorer and PAT holder, a job that also comes with the secondary responsibility of getting the ball to the Bills’ opponents.

While that last line may seem facetious – and it is – it is also true. Since the 2020 season, the Bills have punted just 190 times as a team, 14 fewer punts than the closest team, the Kansas City Chiefs, during the same span. There are several reasons for this, and turnovers are certainly one of them (Buffalo has committed 99 turnovers in that span, fifth-most in the league), but a major factor is that the Bills score a ton of points.

So we find ourselves discussing a punter in today’s episode of our ’91 Players in 91 Days’ series. But perhaps what will be most interesting is how this young punter adjusts to starting status at the professional level.

Name: Jack Browning

Number: 30

Position: P.

Size weight: 5’11”, 190 pounds

Age: 22 (23 on 11/14/2024

Experience/Project: R; signed with Bills as a UDFA after the 2024 NFL Draft

College: San Diego State

Acquired: UDFA signature

Financial situation (by Spotrac): Browning’s UDFA contract is a standard three-year deal. That’s worth a total of $2.84 million over that span, and only $10,000 is guaranteed in the form of a signing bonus. That’s the number the Bills will apply as a dead cap charge if they release Browning. If he makes the roster, he will carry a cap hit of $798,333 for the 2024 season.

2023 summary: Browning pulled double duty for the Aztecs, following in the footsteps of another SDSU punter/kicker Bills fans will know in Matt Araiza. Browning was the only player in the country to make the preseason watch list for the Ray Guy Award (nation’s top punter) and Lou Gross Award (nation’s top kicker). Although he finished as a semi-finalist for the Guy Award, his kicking left a lot to be desired, as he only made 15 of 22 field goals. He did, however, make all 23 of his PATs. As a punter, Browning threw 54 punts, 22 of which were downed inside the 20-yard line, and he averaged just over 45 yards per punt. He also threw 16 kickoffs for touchbacks out of the 39 kickoffs he attempted. Browning was also voted team captain by his teammates.

Positioning prospects: Browning and Sam Martin are the two punters on the roster currently.

2024 offseason: Browning is healthy and participating in OTAs.

Outlook for the 2024 season: The hardest thing to determine is how Browning will become a starter. His SDSU biography describes him as having “a cannon for a leg,” something Martin certainly doesn’t have at this point in his career. However, if Browning doesn’t hold up well on PATs and field goals, it probably won’t be worth the risk to play with his kicks.

The cap savings would be minimal by moving on from Martin — the veteran’s cap hit is $2.05 million for the year, but if you add his $800,000 dead cap hit to Browning’s cap hit, the Bills would actually only save only about $400,000 by choosing Browning. on Martin. If the undrafted rookie wants to make the team, he’ll have to win the job, and the best way to do that is to prove himself as a quality starter on Tyler Bass’s kicks.

If Browning can do that And show off that cannon leg, then he can unseat Sam Martin in 2024 and beyond. No one knows if he’ll be able to do it or not, but given Martin’s inconsistent performances last season, this competition is definitely wide open.