Panthers acquire Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee in trade with Browns
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers filled arguably the biggest hole on their roster Monday by acquiring three-time Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee in a trade with the Cleveland Browns.
The Panthers gave up a 2018 fourth-round pick and punter Kasey Redfern in exchange for Lee and a 2017 seventh-round pick.
The defending NFC champions had hoped veteran Mike Scifres would fill the void left by Brad Nortman, who signed with Jacksonville in free agency. However, Scifres, the former Chargers punter, injured his kicking (right) knee in Friday's preseason game when a New England player ran into him on his first punt of the preseason.
The Panthers had been trying to hold Scifres out as he rehabbed offseason surgery on his left knee.
The Browns traded Lee three days after coach Hue Jackson jumped the 13-year veteran on the sideline for a lack of effort on trying to stop a return that went 73 yards for a touchdown.
"(It was) his pursuit. Let's be very honest,'' Jackson said after the game. "We're out there to play. If there's another guy that has the ball, your job is to go get it. The second time (on a long return) he did that, so that was improvement.
"That's something to build on. The first time he understood in his conversation with me that's not how we pursue it, and he made amends for that. So on we go.''
On Monday, the Browns moved on from Lee. And the Panthers found a huge missing piece to a puzzle they hope will result in another trip to the Super Bowl.
Lee ranks sixth in the NFL all-time in gross punting average (46.2 yards), eighth all-time in net average (39.5) and ninth all-time for punts inside the 20 (325).
He set Browns single-season records with a 46.7-yard gross average and 40.1-yard net average in 2015.
In 2011, Lee recorded the NFL's second-best single-season net punting average (44.0). In 2007, he had 42 punts inside the 20, tied for the third best season in NFL history.
Lee also has ties to the Carolinas, growing up in Westminster, South Carolina, before playing collegiately at Pittsburgh.
Lee's current contract runs through 2018. He has a salary cap figure of $2,833,000 in 2016, $3,433,000 in 2017 and $4,134,000 in 2018.
One of the reasons the Panthers didn't keep Nortman was they didn't want to compete with the four-year, $8.8 million deal he received from Jacksonville. That deal has a cap number of $2.15 million in 2016.
Carolina also wanted to become more efficient at directional punting. Nortman sometimes outkicked the coverage.
The Panthers did not indicate what would happen to Scifres, who attended Monday's practice but did not work out. An injury settlement is a possibility with four more moves needed to reduce the roster to 75 by 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
