The New England Patriots have always placed an emphasis on special teams during Bill Belichick's tenure as head coach. They reinforced that notion this morning when it was announced that they had handed punter Jake Bailey a four-year, $13.5 million extension to keep him with the team for the foreseeable future.

Jake Bailey's new deal makes him the second highest-paid punter in the NFL, with only Michael Dickson of the Seattle Seahawks making more than Bailey. Given how Bailey is easily one of the best young punters in the league, it makes sense that the Patriots were willing to hand him this sort of deal.

Bailey will be entering his fourth season with New England in 2022, and he has quickly established himself as one of the premier punters in the league. Bailey earned first-team All Pro honors and a Pro Bowl selection in 2020 for his special teams contributions.

2021 didn't go as smoothly for Bailey and the Pats special teams unit, as Bailey's consistency waned for much of the campaign. His yards per punt fell over a yard from 48.7 to 47.3, and Bailey had three of his punts blocked, which was the most in the NFL. Nobody else in the league had more than one for what it's worth.

Despite that, Bailey is one of the best punters in the NFL, and he's still only 25 years old. It may seem like an insignificant move, but New England locking up Bailey means that they won't have to worry about the punter position for the next few years, and you can bet Belichick is happy about that.