Britton Colquitt Reportedly Released by Broncos

The Denver Broncos reportedly have released punter Britton Colquitt after trade rumors surfaced earlier in the week. Troy Renck of Denver7 reported the news on Tuesday.

Prior to the decision, they were reportedly shopping the punter and "called teams inquiring if they’d be interested” in the veteran, per Mike Klis of 9NEWS in Denver on Aug. 28. Klis listed the Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears as potential teams that “could be interested in Colquitt.”

Denver had the luxury of shopping its punter because it chose Riley Dixon out of Syracuse in the seventh round of the 2016 draft. Klis pointed out the Broncos gave the reins to Dixon during their 17-9 preseason victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, and the youngster averaged 44.9 yards per punt on eight attempts, one of which ended up inside the 20-yard line.

The 23-year-old Dixon is also eight years younger than Colquitt and would have been a cheaper option at the position. According to Klis, Colquitt has $3.25 million left on the final year of his deal, while Dixon is set to make $530,008 in 2016.

“We’ll see what God has planned," Colquitt said, per Klis. "God’s got me this far, so I’m putting everything in his hands, and we don’t have control over anything, anyway.” 

Colquitt, who had been with the Broncos for his entire career, played in all 16 games every season from 2010 to 2015. He brings postseason experience to the table and also led the league in 2011 with 4,783 total punting yards, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

However, Klis acknowledged Colquitt finished a disappointing 21st in the league with 39.7 yards per punt a season ago, although he bolstered his average to 42.7 yards per punt in the playoffs. That type of postseason performance could make the difference for a team in a tightly fought battle, and he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl a season ago.

The Vikings, Panthers and Cardinals all made the playoffs last year despite their struggles in the punting game. According to ESPN.com, Carolina finished 17th, Arizona finished 29th and Minnesota finished dead last in the league in yards per punt in 2015, but one of those teams could bring in Colquitt to boost those numbers.