The Denver Broncos on Friday signed free-agent punter Sam Paulescu (Paul-less-q), Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced. As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Paulescu (6-foot-0, 189 pounds) is a rookie who was out of the NFL after Dallas waived him on Aug. 23. He played for the Cowboys in one game during the preseason, punting twice for 102 yards (51.0 gross / 41.0 net) and kicking off once for 69 yards against Denver on Aug. 18. Paulescu entered the NFL with the Cowboys on May 14 as a rookie free agent from Oregon State University.
As a senior at Oregon State, Paulescu became the first punter in school history to earn first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference honors. He received honorable mention all-conference accolades as a junior and finished his two-year career at the school with 128 punts for 5,464 yards (42.7 avg.).
Paulescu transferred to Oregon State following two seasons at Fullerton College in Fullerton, Calif., where he earned first-team junior college All-America honors as a punter and kicker.
A four-year letterman in football and soccer at Whittier Christian High School in La Habra, Calif., Paulescu was born on April 18, 1984.