Saints release former starter during key position battle out of nowhere just days before New Orleans’ first preseason action

The Saints just made a surprising special teams decision. Who is remaining to win a pivotal position battle?

Special teams can be the difference in wins and losses around the NFL. For the New Orleans Saints, they will have a new starter at the punter position this season, most likely. Matthew Hayball held down the job last year, but the new coaching staff is going in a different direction.

Saints waive punter Matthew Hayball

New Orleans has waived their starting punter from a season ago. The Saints signed QB Hunter Dekkers as the corresponding move. The punter competition has flown under the radar, but clearly, the team felt a change was necessary.

Saints waived Matthew Hayball

— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) August 6, 2025

This move leaves rookies James Burnip and Kai Kroeger as the remaining punters on the roster. The battle is down to two – with an entire preseason slate ahead for New Orleans. Both Burnip and Kroeger were both UDFA additions to the roster this offseason.

Nick Underhill made a great observation on Twitter regarding the punter situation for New Orleans recently. With this decision, the Saints will start their fourth punter in five years since they let go Thomas Morstead. Morstead signed a free agent deal this offseason with the San Francisco 49ers.

The #Saints will have a new punter for a fourth consecutive season.

2022 - Blake Gillikin
2023 - Lou Hedley
2024 - Matthew Hayball
2025 - Likely James Burnip or Kai Kroeger

 

— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) August 6, 2025

He averaged 44.6 yards per punt (second-best in school history) with his 265 career attempts which stands as a school-record as well as the fifth-most in SEC history. He tied for the most games played in school history with 61. He earned All-SEC and All-American honors in both 2022 and 2024. He was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award in 2024. — New Orleans Saints on Kroeger

As for Hayball, I thought he improved over the back half of last season. He struggled out of the gates, but he started to show some glimpses of why he won the job during last offseason. Hayball had a strong leg, but his placement on punts was an inconsistency. He will look to join another NFL roster now.

The Saints will look to name their punter sometime during the preseason. Both Kroeger and Burnip have had strong moments so far in training camp. We will see who comes out victorious. It seems like Blake Grupe has locked in the kicker job with another impressive camp. He’s been fantastic at practices.