The New England Patriots may have reached a one-year deal to retain veteran punter Ryan Allen, but that doesn’t mean they’re not above bringing in a little competition for Allen in training camp this year. They made that perfectly clear by selecting Stanford punter Jake Bailey in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Bailey becomes the first punter to be drafted by New England in nine years. Zoltan Mesko, Michigan Wolverine and native of Romania, was also selected in the fifth round back in 2010 by Bill Belichick and the Pats.
For Bailey’s sake, let’s hope he lasts longer than Mesko did.