In the fifth round if this year’s draft, the New England Patriots invested in one of the most intriguing specialists available: with the 163rd overall selection the club picked Stanford’s Jake Bailey a high-upside punter that also had plenty of experience as a kickoff specialist. Bringing Bailey in meant that incumbent Ryan Allen had to fight for his job for the second year in a row, and this time he was apparently not successful.
As first reported by the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride, the Patriots have decided to release Allen. This means that the competition is over and that Bailey will serve as New England’s punter moving forward — a decision that is not exactly that big of a surprise.