Perth-born punter Mitch Wishnowsky has moved into the top five highest-paid Australians to ever play in the NFL after inking a new multi-million dollar deal.
The 30-year-old took the NFL by storm after entering the league in 2019, playing in Super Bowl LIV, and has now earned a huge contract extension at the San Francisco 49ers with a four-year deal worth up to $19.3 million.
It takes Wishnowsky from being one of the lowest-paid punters on his rookie contract to the third-highest punting salary across the 32-team competition.
The contract is just short of the $21.9 million the Seattle Seahawks pay countryman and fellow punter Michael Dixon and is just $297,000 less than the Washington Commanders pay Tress Way.
Former South Sydney Rabbitoh Jordan Mailata signed the richest deal by an Aussie last year at the Philadelphia Eagles, worth around $59.5 million with bonuses potentially pushing his earnings to almost $150 million.
Wishnowsky has played every regular season game since his NFL debut with an average of 41 yards per punt. He played in the 49ers’ 31-20 Super Bowl LIV defeat to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami.
He has become known for pinning the ball inside the 20-yard line and has taken kickoffs 214 times.
Wishnowsky had to give up his pursuit of an AFL career after multiple shoulder injuries, but after joining Prokick Australia, he impressed scouts in the US, earning a scholarship at the Utah Utes, where he won the Ray Guy Award for most outstanding punter.
He was also a unanimous All-American as a sophomore in 2016. The 49ers took a punt on him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft with pick 110.
Wishnowsky punted four times in the 49ers opening week loss to the Chicago Bears at a rain-soaked Soldier Field in the Windy City.
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