New England Patriots release Canadian punter Jake Julien

Photo: AP/Michael Dwyer

The New England Patriots have released Canadian punter Jake Julien.

The native of Barrie, Ont. signed with the Pats after going unselected in the 2022 NFL Draft. He dressed for the team’s first preseason game this past week but did not register a statistic.

The six-foot-two, 217-pounder spent five seasons at Eastern Michigan University where he punted 221 times in 54 games, averaging 44 yards per attempt. He pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 71 times in his career with 51 punts of his punts traveling over 50 yards.

The Ottawa Redblacks selected Julien in the fourth round of the 2021 CFL Draft but the specialist opted to return for a final college season in the hopes of elevating his NFL prospects. He averaged 45.9 yards per punt in 2021 with 11 kicks inside the 20-yard line and 14 punts over 50 yards.

Julien was named second-team All-Mid-American Conference as a senior and earned an invitation to perform at the College Gridiron Showcase.

NFL teams were required to trim their rosters to 85 players by Tuesday. They will also need to make cuts to get to 80 players by Aug. 23 before finalizing their 53-man active rosters on Aug. 30.