Jets punter Lac Edwards has developed into one of the best punters in the NFL. That makes the team as a whole better.
The punter might be the most underrated position in the NFL. Fans know that the field position battle is huge in the game. The better the field position for you and the worse field position for the opponent the more likely you are to win. However, fans often ignore the role punters have in this. They often focus on returners or the role the offense or defense has on it. However, the player who has the most say in this is the punter.
Lac Edwards is that guy for the Jets. He’s the one responsible for flipping field position for the Jets. Edwards ranks top-10 in average net punt yards and top five in times he’s pinned the opponent inside the 20. That may not seem like a lot, but it means a lot to good teams.
Only four punters in the NFL rank in both the top-10 in average net punt yards and times pinning opponents inside the 20. Lac Edwards, Jake Bailey, Brett Kern, and Thomas Morestead. the Jets are the only team with a punter on that list that has a record under .500.
This is a contract year for Lac Edwards. The Jets don’t have a history of giving long-term contracts to special teams players. Since the Johnsons bought the team only two special teams players have gotten multi-year contract extensions, Ben Graham and Nick Folk. The Jets should be trying to extend Edwards.
Punter is a cheap position that won’t cost the team much in cap space no matter what they do. However, Edwards has proven to be among an elite group of punters in the league and that deserves recognition in the form of a multi-year contract.
Edwards is a big reason why the Jets were the best special teams unit in the NFL in 2018 and are top three again this year. If that’s not worth a contract extension then nothing is.