The Dolphins announced Monday the signing of punter Michael Palardy.
It's been a circuitous route for Palardy back to South Florida. The former quarterback and punter at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale was cut by seven different teams before catching on with the Panthers in 2016. Two years later, he received a three-year contract extension with Carolina
Palardy played four seasons (2016-2019) for Carolina before missing the 2020 season after being placed on the non-football injury list. He has played in 55 career games and total 342 punts for 11,011 yards and a 40.3 net punt average. Palardy originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Oakland.
The 75 punts from Palardy in 2019 were a career high. He averaged 46.0 yards per punt, which was tied for 13th in the NFL that season.
A left-footed punter, Palardy can also moonlight as a kickoff specialist. He attempted six kickoffs for 155 total yards in 2019.
Palardy, who played some quarterback at St. Thomas Aquinas, has completed one-of-two career NFL passes for 12 yards.
