Chiefs release punter Dustin Colquitt

According to the Canadian Press on Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs have released punter Dustin Colquitt of Knoxville, Tennessee. Colquitt had been the punter for the Chiefs from 2005 to 2019 and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2012 and 2016.

This past season, Colquitt had 48 punts for 2126 yards and averaged 44.8 yards per punt. His longest punt in 2019 was 68 yards in the Chiefs’ 31-24 loss to the Houston Texans on October 13.

Overall, Colquitt had 1124 punts for Kansas City for 50393 yards. Colquitt’s longest career regular-season punt was 81 yards in a 24-10 Chiefs loss to the San Diego Chargers on December 2, 2007. In addition to his 1124 punts, Colquitt had seven kickoffs for the Chiefs in 15 years for 447 yards. He averaged 63.9 yards per kickoff.

Colquitt was also part of the Chiefs team that won the 2020 Super Bowl. He had two punts for 100 yards as the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on February 2.

It appeared Colquitt might be expendable when Kansas City decided to sign two punters via free agency during the offseason. On April 8, the Chiefs signed Tyler Newsome to a one year contract worth $1.95 million. Newsome played his collegiate career with the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish before going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft. He then signed with the Los Angeles Chargers, but was cut during the preseason.

While with the Fighting Irish, Newsome averaged 44 yards per punt. That was eight-tenths of a yard less than the 44.8 yards per punt Colquitt has averaged while in the NFL.

The punter competing against Newsome for the starting job in Kansas City in 2020 is Tommy Townsend of Orlando, Florida. Townsend had spent the last two years as the punter for the University of Florida Gators.