Thomas Morstead sends 4-word message after signing with 49ers

Veteran punter Thomas Morstead signed with the San Francisco 49ers to compete for the starting job in training camp.

Morstead has been in the NFL since 2009 after being a fifth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints. The 39-year-old spent the 2024 NFL season with the New York Jets and was set to be their punter again in 2025, but he was released on May 13 after the team signed Kai Kroeger.

As OTAs began, Morstead signed a one-year deal with the 49ers, and he gave a four-word response to his signing.

"Grateful is an understatement!" Morstead wrote on Wednesday.

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Morstead was due a base salary of $2.1 million, with no guaranteed money, and set to count $3.05 million on the salary cap this season in the last year of his contract with New York, before the Jets released him. The contract details for his deal with the 49ers weren't reported at this time.

Morstead will compete with Mitch Wishnowsky for the punter job with the 49ers. Wishnowsky has been San Francisco's punter since 2019, but in 2024, he dealt with injuries. In 22 punts, he had a 45.18 average.

Morstead, meanwhile, has played for the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins. With the Jets in 2024, he averaged 47.2 yards per punt.

Thomas Morstead was 'disappointed' to be released by the Jets

Thomas Morstead was expected to be back as the Jets' punter this season, but the team moved on from him just before OTAs.

After it was announced that Morstead was released, he thanked the Jets in a post on Instagram but did say he was disappointed to be moving on.

“Just wanted to say thank you to all the fans, all the coaches that I worked with over the past few years, the teammates,” Morstead said. “It’s been awesome. Had a great experience. Disappointed to be moving on and disappointed how it went down, but it’s just the way it goes in this business.

“I really appreciate everybody that’s been a part of the journey. And I'm out here, getting some kicks in with my boys, and just wanted to say thank you to everybody.”

Luckily for Morstead, he was able to sign on with the San Francisco 49ers and will now compete for the punting job.

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton