The Carolina Panthers have acquired punter Andy Lee and a 2017 seventh-round draft choice in a trade with the Cleveland Browns, pending a physical, the Panthers announced Monday. Cleveland will receive a 2018 fourth-round draft choice and punter Kasey Redfern.
Lee, a 13-year NFL veteran, is a four-time All-Pro (2007, 2011 and 2012 first-team selection, and 2009 second-team selection) and a three-time Pro Bowler (2007, 2009 and 2011). Lee ranks sixth all-time in gross punting average (46.2), eighth all-time in net average (39.5) and ninth all-time in punts inside the 20 (325) in NFL history.
Last season with Cleveland, Lee set Browns single-season records with a 46.7-yard gross average and a 40.1-yard net average. He punted 70 times with 25 punts inside the 20-yard line.
In 2011, Lee recorded the second-best single-season net punting average in league history (44.0). He followed that performance with a 43.2 net punting average in 2012, the sixth-best single-season average in NFL history. In 2007, Lee recorded 42 punts downed inside the 20, which is tied for the third-best total in NFL history.
A native of Westminster, S.C., Lee played collegiately at Pittsburgh and entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft choice (188th overall) of the San Francisco 49ers in 2004. He played 11 seasons (2004-14) with San Francisco before being traded to Cleveland in 2015 for a conditional 2017 draft choice.
