Ryan Stonehouse has proven to possess one of the strongest legs in NFL history, going 3-for-3 in seasons with 50-plus-yard punting averages. The player who broke Sammy Baugh‘s longstanding single-season punting record has now been jettisoned twice this year, however.
The Dolphins waived Stonehouse on Tuesday, per a team announcement. Initially reporting the Dolphins’ decision to cut the strong-legged specialist, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes the team will go with incumbent Jake Bailey for a third season. This release also came despite the Dolphins hiring ex-Titans special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman this offseason.
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This decision comes months after the Titans declined to tender Stonehouse as an RFA. The original-round tender price spiked to $3.26MM this year, leading to more nontender calls than usual, and a punter being nontendered at this rate was not exactly shocking. Still, Stonehouse had made it back from ACL and MCL tears sustained during the 2023 season. He posted his third 50-plus-yard punting average as well.
As a rookie, Stonehouse brought down Baugh’s hallowed single-season punting mark (51.4 yards per boot) — one that had stood 1940 — by averaging 53.1 yards a kick. Baugh also set that record on 35 punts; Stonehouse punted 90 times as a rookie. He then matched that punting average a year later, though the ACL and MCL tears sustained on a blocked punt ended his 2023 season after 12 games. In 17 contests last season, Stonehouse averaged 50.6 yards per punt.
While the three-season sample size would seemingly hold some weight, the Dolphins saw Bailey average 56 yards (on three preseason punts) to Stonehouse’s 43.3 during the team’s first two preseason games. Bailey averaged 45.7 and 47.1 yards per punt in 2023 and ’24, respectively. The Stonehouse cut will tag the Dolphins with just $75K in dead money. Bailey is tied to a two-year, $4.2MM deal; it would have cost $550K to drop him. Stonehouse should generate some interest before the season.
Announcing their Matt Judon signing, the Dolphins also added cornerback Cameron Dantzler and waived wide receiver Tarik Black. The Dolphins also placed offensive lineman Yodny Cajuste on IR, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
A former third-round pick who started 26 games with the Vikings from 2020-23, Danzler has become an NFL nomad. The Dolphins are the veteran corner’s sixth NFL team; he stopped through Washington, Buffalo, Houston and New Orleans. Dantzler did not play in the NFL last season but saw time in the UFL — with the San Antonio Brahmas and Memphis Showboats — during that league’s past two seasons. Miami is amid a full-scale cornerback makeover and already lost Artie Burns and Kader Kohou to season-ending injuries, leading to this flier on Dantzler.