Buffalo Bills to bring punter Michael Palardy in for visit, per report

It wouldn’t be an offseason without the Buffalo Bills showing interest in at least one former Carolina Panthers. Last offseason, the team signed cornerback Josh Norman prior to free agency and this year it could be punter Michael Palardy.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Palardy is expected to visit with the Buffalo Bills on Friday.

The visit is certainly an interesting one because last year the team had one of the best punters in the NFL in Corey Bojorquez. He finished the year near the bottom of the league among starting punters in total number of punts with only 41.

However, he made those punts count and finished first in the league in average yards per punt with 50.8 yards. He also had the longest punt in the league last year with one punt going 72 yards.

The Buffalo Bills though have to make a decision this offseason as Bojorquez is a restricted free agent. This means for the Bills to get right of first refusal, which essentially allows them to match any offer, they have to tender him with a one-year deal worth $2.13 million, according to Over the Cap.

While this may not sound like a lot, in a year with limited cap space, general manager Brandon Beane will need to find money any way he can. If the Bills were to tender Bojorquez and he accepted that deal, he would be right about in the middle of the league in terms of salary for punters.

This is likely a big reason why the team is bringing Michael Palardy in for a visit. As Schefter notes, Palardy is coming off an ACL injury that forced him to miss all of last season. This could allow the Bills to sign him on a discount and save some cap space.

Palardy was the Panthers starting punter from 2016 to 2019 and has a career average of 45.3 yards per punt on 243 punts.