South Carolina football All-American signs NFL contract
South Carolina football All-American punter Kai Kroeger has been busy. Since going undrafted this April, Kroeger received invitations to seven different NFL rookie camps. While he couldn’t make it to all of them, his pre-draft workouts paid off. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the New York Jets were signing Kroeger. To make room for Kroeger, New York released veteran Thomas Morstead, the team’s starter in 2023 and 2024.
With the Jets, Kroeger will compete with former Texas Tech punter Austin McNamara. McNamara spent last year with the Cincinnati Bengals on the practice squad. Typically, teams only keep one punter on the active roster and sometimes another on the practice squad.
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During his South Carolina football career, Kai Kroeger was one of the best special teamers in program history. A two-time All-American, Kroeger owns the Gamecock record for games played (61), had the best season from a USC punter ever in 2024 (47.8 yards per punt), and is second all-time in punting average (44.6 yards per punt). He was well known for his ability to help the offense via fake punts. Kroeger threw three first downs, three touchdowns, and several other 2-point conversions. He also delivered a successful drop-kick onside kick against Alabama.
South Carolina special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis predicted Kroeger would become an NFL player last fall. “He’s going to be a pro, in my opinion,” said DeCamillis. “If I was still in the NFL, he’d be up on my chart. I can promise you that much. He can do a lot with the ball. He’s a consummate pro. He’s worked his tail off to be where he’s at, and I think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to play in the league for a while. So glad to have coached him [and], hopefully, helped him get better.”
