The Green Bay Packers have re-signed veteran punter/placekicker Louie Aguiar as a free agent, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman announced Friday.
Aguiar, in his eleventh NFL season, thus returns to Green Bay after a two-year absence. He served as the Packers' punter for 15 games in 1999, signing on as a free agent when rookie Josh Bidwell was sidelined by testicular cancer late in the preseason.
The 36-year-old Utah State alumnus, out of football in 2001, most recently was the Chicago Bears' punter during the 2000 season when he averaged 38.8 yards for 52 punts, depositing 8 of them inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
Aguiar, originally signed by Buffalo as an undrafted free agent in 1989 and waived by the Bills in the preseason of both '89 and '90, subsequently launched his NFL career with the New York Jets in 1991 after emerging as the fourth-ranking punter in the World League while with the Barcelona Dragons in the spring of '91. In 1992, his 22 punts inside-the-20 were third-best in the AFC and he supplemented his punting contributions by handling kickoff duties for the entire season as well as placement responsibilities for the first four games of the regular season.
The 6-2, 220-pound Livermore, Calif., native signed on with Kansas City as a free agent in 1994, launching a five-year stay with the Chiefs, during which he earned second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press in 1995 after posting a career-best 43.8-yard average. In 1996, he handled kickoff duties for the last six games of the season, a year in which he deposited 25 punts inside-the-20 while averaging 41.7 yards for 88 punts.
While with the Packers in 1999, Aguiar enjoyed a 5-to-1 ratio of punts inside-the-20 to touchbacks (20 to 4), punting 75 times for 2,954 yards and a 39.4-yard average.
Offensive tackle Kevin Jordan, a second-year professional from Fresno State, was waived (injured) to make roster room for Aguiar, who has been assigned jersey number 13.
