2019 NFL Punts Returned Leaders

Punts the receiving team fielded and ran back, including muffs. Fewer returns mean the punter and coverage team gave the returner less to work with.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2019, Lac Edwards (44) led NFL punters in punts returned, ahead of Michael Palardy (40) and Tress Way (39). 37 punters qualify.

Final 2019 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	44	87	45.9	41.6	28	32%	3%	15%	+12.9
2	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	40	75	46.0	38.7	25	33%	4%	21%	−7.9
3	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	39	79	49.6	44.1	30	38%	5%	24%	+8.2
4	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	35	81	44.8	40.7	26	32%	3%	33%	−5.5
5	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	34	74	45.1	40.9	34	46%	7%	24%	+9.1
6	Ty Long	Los Angeles Chargers	33	48	47.0	40.9	17	35%	4%	17%	+0.4
7	Colby Wadman	Denver Broncos	32	78	44.4	39.4	29	37%	5%	27%	−8.2
8	Cameron Johnston	Philadelphia Eagles	32	71	46.4	42.3	28	39%	6%	27%	+5.6
9	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	31	62	47.8	41.2	21	34%	7%	25%	−7.1
10	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	30	78	47.1	43.1	37	47%	3%	24%	+8.4
11	A.J. Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	30	67	46.0	39.4	33	49%	9%	30%	−5.7
12	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	29	76	45.3	41.8	31	41%	9%	29%	−1.0
13	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	29	74	45.5	40.9	24	32%	5%	32%	−3.1
14	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	29	69	45.0	41.1	23	33%	3%	29%	+4.9
15	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	28	81	44.9	41.3	36	44%	7%	22%	+11.4
16	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	28	59	44.4	41.2	22	37%	2%	25%	+1.8
17	J.K. Scott	Green Bay Packers	26	77	44.0	39.9	29	38%	5%	32%	−6.7
18	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	25	57	43.2	38.3	19	33%	5%	32%	−7.3
19	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	24	75	45.3	42.1	30	40%	7%	40%	+12.2
20	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	24	75	46.8	44.5	25	33%	3%	35%	+16.3
21	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	24	71	46.1	42.3	29	41%	3%	25%	+0.2
22	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	24	60	46.2	43.1	29	48%	2%	35%	−0.6
23	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	23	67	47.4	42.4	22	33%	8%	21%	+8.4
24	Britton Colquitt	Minnesota Vikings	23	62	45.2	42.6	24	39%	0%	39%	−10.6
25	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	23	52	44.9	41.6	23	44%	4%	25%	+11.4
26	Jamie Gillan	Cleveland Browns	20	64	46.2	41.3	28	44%	10%	29%	+0.6
27	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	19	49	44.3	40.3	21	43%	6%	29%	−6.0
28	Corey Bojorquez	Buffalo Bills	18	80	41.9	37.7	34	43%	9%	33%	−13.6
29	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	18	51	41.6	37.0	18	35%	4%	36%	−20.6
30	Bryan Anger	Houston Texans	17	45	46.5	44.5	24	53%	4%	36%	+5.6
31	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	15	41	46.4	39.8	21	51%	10%	25%	−7.9
32	Ryan Allen	Atlanta Falcons	8	28	41.9	37.5	14	50%	11%	29%	+0.4
33	Trevor Daniel	Houston Texans	7	11	43.5	40.9	2	18%	0%	27%	−3.0
34	Kasey Redfern	Atlanta Falcons	5	9	41.2	36.9	3	33%	0%	33%	−3.1
35	Matt Wile	Atlanta Falcons	4	6	48.3	44.7	3	50%	0%	0%	+7.6
36	Ryan Winslow	Arizona Cardinals	4	6	48.5	44.2	2	33%	17%	0%	+1.3
37	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	2	10	41.9	36.7	2	20%	0%	78%	−5.4

All 2019 NFL punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2018 2017 2016

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