Report: Cardinals Bring Back Punter

The Arizona Cardinals are bringing back Punter Blake Gillikin.

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals were fairly active on the defensive side of the ball today - adding four new faces that will hopefully make an impact and improve DC Nick Rallis' squad.

They managed to bring back a familiar face in Trystan Colon to start the day out on the offensive side of things - and we can now say special teams was addressed, too.

The Cardinals are bringing back punter Blake Gillikin on a two-year deal, as first reported by Twitter/X account ML Football. ESPN's Josh Weinfuss later confirmed the report.

BREAKING: Standout 26-year old punter Blake Gillikin is re-signing with the Arizona #Cardinals on a two-year deal, league sources tell @_MLFootball.

Gillikin in his last 10 averaged 45.54 net averag, which led the #NFL.

He is the 6th rank punter, according to PuntAlytics. pic.twitter.com/1myS8I8Ory

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) March 11, 2024

Gillikin first entered the league after going undrafted in 2020 with the New Orleans Saints, where he punted for the squad through 2022. Last October, Arizona signed Gillikin.

Gillikin replaced Nolan Cooney four games into the season. Later, Gillikin became the third Cardinals punter in franchise history to not punt in a game in Arizona's win over Philadelphia.

According to Football Database, Gillikin's 50.6 yards per punt average was good enough for third in the NFL. Out of 51 punts, 11 landed inside the 20-yard line. He was one of six players to average over 50 yards per punt based on their 2.5 punts per team game criteria. 

Today, Arizona signed Bilal Nichols, Justin Jones, Mack Wilson and Sean Murphy-Bunting while also bringing back Colon. The Cardinals also reportedly re-signed Krys Barnes according to his instagram page.