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The writing was on the wall for Bucs punter Bradley Pinion, perhaps even before the 2022 NFL Draft. But the selection of Georgia punter Jake Camarda in the fourth round sealed his fate. On Wednesday, the Bucs made it official with the release of Pinion, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported.
The #Buccaneers are releasing P Bradley Pinion today, source says. Tampa drafted Jake Camarda in the fourth round. Pinion, who kicked and punted through a torn hip labrum and hip impingement last year, passed a physical yesterday. Expect multiple teams to have interest.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) June 22, 2022
Pinion, who signed with the Bucs in 2019, was set to make an unguaranteed $2.9 million this season and his release gives the team some much-needed cap space. The seven-year veteran is coming off his worst season as a pro. His 42.5 yards per punt average was one of the worst in the league, making him No. 33 out of players who had 37 or more punts. Pinion also missed three games due to injury. His touchback percentage on kickoffs has also shown a steep decline since joining the team, falling to 79.8% in 2021 from 85% in 2020 and 90.7% in 2019.
Pinion’s fill-in for 2021, Sterling Hofrichter, was signed to a futures contract after the season. However, he didn’t fare much better in the veteran’s absence. He punted six times for an abysmal 37.8 yards per punt while averaging just six touchbacks on kickoffs on his 14 attempts (42.9%).
Georgia P Jake Camarda – Photo by: USA Today
Pinion’s decline in numbers and his large cap hit led to the selection of Camarda. Over his four seasons at Georgia, Camarda finished with a 45.6 yards per punt average. He only had six punts go for touchbacks during his senior season. While 17 of his punts pinned opponents inside the 20, 18 went for over 50 yards. Camarda also shows great control with his punts, possessing one of the best PINYA’s (Percent of Ideal Net Yards Achieved) in all of college football.
Another asset of Camarda’s that makes Pinion expendable for the Bucs is his ability to handle kickoff and placeholding duties. He averaged 61 yards per kickoff with 71 touchbacks and had just one kick go out of bounds. Pinion had two in the Bucs’ playoff loss to the Rams alone.
The Bucs could also make a youth move at kicker as well, with incumbent Ryan Succop poised to face stiff competition from second-year kicker Jose Borregales. Releasing Succop would save the Bucs an additional $2 million.
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