Syracuse’s own heads to the Gulf Coast for his next NFL stop
Syracuse Orange alums are flying off the shelves of NFL Free Agency. Andre Cisco and Ifeatu Melifonwu both found new homes for the 2025-26 season, and now a third SU grad is heading east.
Punter Riley Dixon will be joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a two-year, $6 million deal, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Dixon spent the last two seasons with the Denver Broncos, the same team that originally drafted him in 2016.
Last year, Dixon punted 81 times with an average of 46.8 yards, with 34 of them pinning opponents inside their own 20 yard line. Additionally, Dixon completed a first down pass on a fake punt in the AFC Wild Card Round in Buffalo – which was the first time he suited up for an NFL playoff game.
Dixon is a native of DeWitt and attended Christian Brothers Academy before enrolling at SU in 2012. He started three of his four seasons with the Orange, punting over 200 times for over 9,000 yards.
Dixon also pulled off some trickery during his time in the Dome, including a game-winning play to start the 2014 season…
…and a hurdle over an LSU defender’s head in 2015.
He would end up being taken in the 7th round of the NFL Draft and played the first two years of his pro career in Denver. He was then traded to the New York Giants, where he remained for four seasons, before signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. After that, he returned to the Broncos on a two-year contract.