Syracuse’s own heads to the Gulf Coast for his next NFL stop
Syracuse Orange alumni are quickly making their mark in NFL Free Agency. Andre Cisco and Ifeatu Melifonwu have already secured new teams for the 2025-26 season, and now another SU graduate is heading east.
Punter Riley Dixon has signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as reported by NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Dixon most recently played for the Denver Broncos, the team that drafted him in 2016, for the past two seasons.
In the previous year, Dixon punted 81 times with an average of 46.8 yards, 34 of which landed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. He also made a key first down pass on a fake punt during the AFC Wild Card Round in Buffalo, marking his first NFL playoff appearance.
Dixon, a DeWitt native, attended Christian Brothers Academy before joining Syracuse in 2012. Over his four seasons with the Orange, he started three times and punted over 200 times for more than 9,000 yards.
During his time at the Dome, Dixon also pulled off some creative plays, including a game-winning move to kick off the 2014 season.
He was selected in the 7th round of the NFL Draft and spent the first two years of his professional career with the Denver Broncos. He was then traded to the New York Giants, where he played for four seasons, before signing a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. Following that, he rejoined the Broncos on a two-year deal.
