Click the link for an updated version of this story: Browns punt three-time Pro Bowl selection Andy Lee in trade with Panthers
The Browns have traded punter Andy Lee and a seventh-round draft pick in 2017 to the Carolina Panthers for punter Kasey Redfern and a fourth-round selection in 2018.
The move came three days after coach Hue Jackson chewed out Lee on the sideline during the Browns' 30-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third preseason game and after Panthers starting punter Mike Scifres suffered a knee injury.
Jackson was miffed about Lee merely jogging instead of hustling and attempting to stop Adam Humphries during his 73-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter.
"[I took issue with] his pursuit," Jackson said after the game. "Let’s be very honest. We’re out there to play. If there’s another guy that has the ball, your job is to go get it. And the second time [he had a chance to pursue a returner] he did that [in the third quarter], so that was improvement. That’s something to build on. The first time he understood in his conversation with me that’s not how we pursue it, and he made amends for that. So on we go."
Now Lee, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, is no longer a member of the Browns.
The Browns acquired Lee, 34, last year by trading a conditional pick in 2017 (a sixth- or seventh-round choice) to the San Francisco 49ers. Lee appeared in all 16 games last season and punted 70 times with 25 inside 20-yard line. His 46.7 gross average and 40.1 net average were Browns single-season records.
Redfern, 24, has never played in an NFL regular-season game. He entered the NFL in 2014 as an undrafted rookie from Wofford who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent part of the 2015 season on the practice squad of the San Diego Chargers before signing with the Panthers this offseason. In three games this preseason, he has 12 punts for 562 yards and a 46.8 gross average.