The Buccaneers have added a third punter to their offseason roster, announcing a deal with Andrew Wilder on Friday.
Wilder, 24, was not in the NFL in 2014. A Northern Arizona product, Wilder joins Chase Tenpenny and Michael Koenen on the Bucs’ punting depth chart.
It’s not unusual for clubs to carry an extra punter in the offseason and in training camp, but three punters is uncommon. Koenen, the Buccaneers’ incumbent at the position, is set to make $3.25 million in salary in each of the next two seasons, and such compensation is relatively high for his position. However, Koenen is an experienced presence at a position where clubs can be loathe to tolerate youthful mistakes, and he has long blunted opposing return games, with only 210-of-748 career punts returned.