Jake Bailey first punter drafted by Patriots since Zoltan Mesko

Stanford’s Jake Bailey became the first punter to be drafted by the New England Patriots in nearly a decade when he was selected in the fifth round.

The New England Patriots may have reached a one-year deal to retain veteran punter Ryan Allen, but that doesn’t mean they’re not above bringing in a little competition for Allen in training camp this year. They made that perfectly clear by selecting Stanford punter Jake Bailey in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Bailey becomes the first punter to be drafted by New England in nine years. Zoltan Mesko, Michigan Wolverine and native of Romania, was also selected in the fifth round back in 2010 by Bill Belichick and the Pats.

For Bailey’s sake, let’s hope he lasts longer than Mesko did. Despite being a close buddy of teammate Tom Brady (they did both go to Michigan, after all), Mesko was a Patriot for just three seasons before losing his job during the 2013 preseason to undrafted rookie Ryan Allen.

Allen, of course, remains New England’s punter to this day, having now occupied the position for the past six seasons.

There was concern entering this year’s free agency period that the Patriots might look to move on from Allen. Traditionally speaking, New England doesn’t like extending or reworking the contracts of their punters, preferring instead to find younger, cheaper options on the market when they can.

That’s what ultimately happened to Mesko, as a matter of fact: he was reportedly a victim of the ledger books. Despite strong play for the majority of his three seasons with the team, Belichick and the coaching staff didn’t see enough on the field to differentiate the abilities of Mesko and Allen. Where they were extremely different though was in cost: Mesko would have cost the Pats $1.3 million in 2013, whereas Allen cost them just $405,000.

Bailey now will seek to do to Allen what Allen did to Mesko. The young Stanford punter is already supposedly a big fan of Allen’s, having been one of the few spectators of Super Bowl 53 who avidly enjoyed all the punting.

It would be a surprise to see the Patriots keep two punters on their final 53-man roster come September. Look for only one of the two (Allen or Bailey) to earn the starting job by the end of training camp and the preseason.