GREEN BAY, Wis. -- No wonder Tim Masthay said he didn’t feel like he had won the Green Bay Packers’ punting job just yet even after the team cut his training-camp competition, Peter Mortell, on Monday.
Masthay lost his job on Tuesday, when the Packers claimed Jacob Schum off waivers. Rather than allowing Masthay to kick head-to-head against Schum in Thursday’s preseason finale, the Packers released him.
The 27-year-old Schum, who was the Bucs’ punter for all 16 games last season, was en route to Green Bay on Tuesday evening, according to his agent Corey Williams. He was expected to practice with the Packers on Wednesday and handle all the punts in Thursday's preseason finale at Kansas City.
Schum has only one season of NFL regular-season experience and he didn’t get his first shot with a team until a 2013 tryout with the Browns, when he was 24 years old and two years out of college. Schum averaged 41.9 yards (gross) and 38.0 (net) on 56 punts for Tampa Bay last season.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is still a phase of camp where I’m still fighting to earn a roster spot and fighting to be prepared to be an asset here during the season if and when I am on the roster,” Masthay said on Monday after Mortell was released. “So to me, the only change is I got all the reps today. So I got a little extra practice. That’s about it.”
Even though this is essentially a one-game tryout for Schum in Thursday's preseason finale against the Chiefs, the fact that the Packers released Masthay would indicate that it's Schum's job unless he bombs.
Masthay was in the final season of a four-year, $5.465 million contract. He would have made $1.2 million this season and counted $1.54 million against the salary cap. Instead, his base salary is wiped off the books and only $240,000 (his remaining signing bonus proration) counts against the cap.
The Packers inherit Schum’s salary of $525,000 for this season, the final year of a two-year deal.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for Jacob,” Williams said. “And I’m sure the Packers like that he’ll cost less than Masthay.”
Masthay won the Packers’ punting job in 2010 and has been with the team ever since. He kicked in Super Bowl XLV and owns the franchise record for net punting (40.3 yards), set last season. However, he was inconsistent, especially late in the season. In the playoff loss at Arizona, Masthay posted a net average of just 32.8 yards.
In three preseason games this year, Masthay averaged 42.8 yards (31.6 net) on nine punts.