After the Bucs made him a healthy scratch once again in their Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the team has decided to fully move on from punter Jake Camarda by waiving him. Tampa Bay had high hopes for the former Georgia Bulldog when they selected him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, but inconsistency throughout 2023 and into this season has ultimately left them without faith in the athletic special teamer.

Bucs P Jake Camarda – Photo by: USA Today

Camarda was under contract through the 2025 season but had relatively little guaranteed money left on his contract. The Bucs will save the remainder of his $985,000 salary for 2024, $766,111.11 on the salary cap but still carry $170,079 in prorated bonus charges from his signing bonus plus the $218,888.89 in salary they have already paid him for a total cap charge of $388,968 this year. The team will also take a $170,079 dead cap charge in 2025.

Bucs Look For Consistency Over Potential

At separate times throughout his short career Camarda has tantalized, as much as a punter can, with high end play. In his rookie season he tied for 3rd in the NFL in yards per punt with 48.9. His net that year was 41.7, good for 12th in the league. He followed that up in 2023 with a 49.8 average (7th) and a 41.8 net (t-19th). Moreover, Camarda ranked 9th overall in EPA/punt which helps better measure the affect of each punt relative to final field position.

Final Punter Rankings of the season! pic.twitter.com/fRkqzPRAo0

— Puntalytics (@ThePuntRunts) January 8, 2024

But while Camarda’s mean results were quite impressive, his path to get there was a long and windy road littered with shanks and miskicks. And ultimately, it is that inconsistency that has worn out its welcome in Tampa Bay. The Bucs have elected to move forward with Trenton Gill who they signed to their practice squad earlier in the season and elevated for the Eagles, Falcons and Ravens games. The Monday night game was the third and final elevation that the Bucs could use on him with Gill on the practice squad.

Bucs P Trenton Gill – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Gill had four punts in his first action with the Bucs. None were more than 42 yards with three under 40. Gill averaged 37.5 yards per boot and put one inside the 20. His first punt of the game yielded a positive play for the Bucs as gunner Josh Hayes was pushed into Eagles return man Cooper DeJean causing a fumble that the Bucs would recover deep in Philadelphia territory.

Later in the game Gill was called upon to try and stop Kelee Ringo from returning a blocked extra point attempt for a score. Gill unfortunately was unable to push Ringo out of bounds and the Eagles netted two points on the play. One has to wonder, given Camarda’s well-documented athleticism if he may have kept those points off the board.

During the Thursday night game at Atlanta, Gill punted twice averaging 43.5 yards per kick and one touchback. On Monday night, he once again had two punts and had his best average yet with 46.5 and a long of 52 with one punt inside the 20. The key in all of this was no punt return yards were allowed as many fair catches were called for.

Gill does not represent an upgrade over Camarda in the aggregate, but he may provide more consistency. This might be appealing to the Bucs brass as they make this move.

For those who are wondering if Trenton Gill can be an upgrade over Jake Camarda…it’s not likely.

Camarda has not been good this season, but Gill has been worse over a larger sample size. https://t.co/rFy7j0c7F0

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 29, 2024

Chances are Camarda will catch on with another club in the future. His big foot, kickoff ability and track record of inconsistent success should find him some suitors. Until then there will always be this incredible highlight.

Jake Camarda just saved 626478367829 parlays

(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/xwk2GWFK99

— br_betting (@br_betting) January 1, 2023