Andy

Lee

P Andy Lee has also been re-signed to a one-year deal. In the cosmic vastness of the Milky Way galaxy — and of our endless, expanding universe — we have our little tasks and rituals on this “pale blue dot” we call earth. One of them is the game of American football. In the game of American football, the ball is “snapped” every play. Some snaps are required to go a longer distance than others. It is Brewer, now 31 years young, who has handled these duties in Arizona since 2016. He may not seem like a pioneer to you, but really, aren’t we all? Pioneering our way through these days, through these lives here on earth. Brewer has found his calling. He is to be commended for it.

Lee will return for a fifth season with the Cardinals after spending most of his lengthy career in San Francisco. Lee didn’t exactly have a banner 2020, finishing with the ninth worst yards per punt average. He had the 16th most punts inside the 20 yard line.

Tacked onto the $1.1 million left on Lee’s old contract, it’s actually worth just $3.09 million annually -- significantly less than originally expected and nearly a full $1 million per year lower than Shane Lechler’s Raiders deal. Lee essentially took a hometown discount. He’s now signed through his age-36 season.

Beat writer Matt Maiocco expects the deal to be in the range of $4 million annually, which is unheard for any punter not named Shane Lechler. To Lee’s credit, he’s in Lechler’s class, and a major reason why the 49ers boasted one of the strongest special teams units of the past decade in 2011. Pro Football Focus rated Lee as the second-best punter in the NFL last season, just ahead of Lechler.

The Panthers needed a punter, and the rebuilding Browns have been stocking up on draft picks since Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta took over. Lee, 34, was acquired via trade by the old Ray Farmer regime for a 2017 seventh-round pick. The Brown-DePodesta regime gets a draft-pick upgrade and will move forward with a cheaper punter. Lee is owed a $2.83 million base salary this season.

They will apparently move forward with Michael Palardy at punter. The Panthers acquired Lee from the Browns for a fourth-round pick in 2018 before the season. Lee was traded from San Francisco to Cleveland the previous year.

His $3.43 million salary for 2017 has been reduced to $1 million, while his $4.13 million salary in 2018 dropped to $1.1 million. Lee is getting some of the money back with bonuses but is still taking a slight pay cut. The restructure saves Carolina $800,000 in cap space this season and almost $2 million in 2018.

Lee, 35, was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2007, 2011, and 2012 with the 49ers. The Panthers had been trying to trade him. The move saves Carolina $1.9 million. Michael Palardy has tentatively won the punting job.

P Matt Wile was waived in the corresponding roster move. Lee is one of the league’s best punters, but was cut loose in a cost-saving measure by the Panthers. He also missed seven games last season with a hamstring issue.