Jordan Stout Signs Record Deal With New York Giants, Becomes NFL’s Highest-Paid Punter
Jordan Stout is getting paid. And he earned every penny of it.
The New York Giants agreed to a three-year, $12.3 million contract with the former Baltimore Ravens punter on Monday, making Stout the highest-paid punter in NFL history, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal cannot be officially signed until Wednesday when the new league year begins, but the agreement signals a clear message from new Giants head coach John Harbaugh: special teams matter, and he is not willing to leave that unit to chance.
The contract puts Stout slightly ahead of Seattle’s Michael Dickson in average annual value, a milestone that reflects just how dominant Stout was in 2025.
A Breakout Season That Changed Everything
After three inconsistent years in Baltimore, Stout put together one of the best punting seasons in recent memory in 2025. He averaged 50.1 yards on 53 punts, led the league with a net average of 44.9 yards, and earned both Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro honors. He also posted 100 career punts inside the 20-yard line and a career-long 74-yard boot against the New York Jets, matching the franchise record set by the legendary Sam Koch.
It was, as Stout himself acknowledged, a make-or-break year.
“Randy Brown tells me, ‘If you do poorly, we’re going to cut you. If you do OK, we’ll re-sign you. If you do too well…’ I’m going to leave that part out,” Stout said after the Jets game.
He did too well. And now he is cashing in.
The Boomerang Punt and a New Sense of Confidence
Stout credited much of his 2025 turnaround to mastering and committing to the “boomerang” punt, a technique that allowed him to consistently flip field position and pin opposing offenses deep in their own territory. He also benefited from having more opportunities to let the ball fly rather than being asked to execute pooch punts in tight situations.
The results were impossible to ignore. After entering the league with the highest PFF grade at the position (93.1) out of Penn State, where he set school records for single-season (46.55 yards) and career punting average (44.81 yards), Stout had struggled to live up to that billing in his first three NFL seasons. Last year, everything clicked.
Reuniting With Harbaugh in New York
The Stout signing is part of a broader pattern taking shape in East Rutherford. Harbaugh, who spent 18 seasons building a powerhouse in Baltimore before taking over the Giants, is pulling familiar pieces from his Ravens tenure. Tight end Isaiah Likely also agreed to a deal with New York on Monday, giving Harbaugh two key former Ravens joining him in his first free agency period with Big Blue.
For Stout, the reunion with Harbaugh felt like a natural fit. During an appearance on “The Lounge” podcast after making the Pro Bowl, Stout did not hide what he wanted.
“There’s no place I would rather play than here,” he said of Baltimore at the time. “I want to play my whole career here. They’re going to have to pay me.”
Baltimore ultimately could not match what New York was willing to offer. The Ravens had already signaled a willingness to move on from established specialists after spending a draft pick on kicker Tyler Loop last offseason. Now they will be searching for a new punter after Stout spent four seasons following in Koch’s footsteps, a legacy that carried enormous weight inside the Ravens organization.
What This Means for the Giants
The Giants’ incumbent punter, Jamie Gillan, has been released following the signing. Which should not be a reflection on Gillan so much as it is a statement about where this Giants organization is headed under Harbaugh.
New York is not interested in plugging holes. It is building to compete now, and investing in the best punter in football at a record price signals exactly that kind of commitment. Field position is not a luxury. In close games, it can be the difference between winning and losing. Harbaugh, whose background as a special teams coach is well documented, knows this better than almost anyone in the league.
Stout, 27 and entering the prime of his career, is now set to anchor a Giants special teams unit that Harbaugh views as a genuine competitive weapon. For a punter who spent years waiting for his moment, the timing could not be better.
