Giants Release Punter Riley Dixon

Dixon's release comes as no surprise, as with him having struggled with consistency last season and being in the final year of his contract, the move was a no-brainer.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Updated:
Mar 10, 2022 10:14 PM EST
Original:
Mar 10, 2022

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New York Giants

The Giants have released punter Riley Dixon in a salary-cap savings move.

Dixon was in the final year of the three-year, $8.7 million contract he signed back in 2020. He was due to count for $3.12 million this year, but his departure will save the Giants $2.8 million on their cap, including the $250,000 roster bonus due to him on March 22.

The 28-year-old Dixon was initially acquired in a trade with the Denver Broncos in 2018. In four seasons with the Giants, he averaged 45.2 yards per punt and had three blocked kicks.

After topping the season 2019 with a 46.1 average, Dixon's season average dropped to around 44 yards per punt in the last two seasons.

Dixon, who also served as the holder for place-kicks, was solid in his first two seasons as a Giant but had seen his consistency slip these past two seasons when asked to execute a variety of different punts.

The Giants signed punter Jaimie Gillan, known as "the Scottish Hammer" to a one-year deal worth $1.065 million earlier this off-season. Gillan also received a $100,000 signing bonus and figures to compete for the punting job on the Giants.

The Giants released veteran tight Kyle Rudolph and running back Devontae Booker earlier this month. And earlier today, they reached an agreement with receiver Sterling Shepard to lower his cap number to a still undisclosed figure.

The Giants have cleared $9.925 million off their cap with the Dixon, Booker, and Rudolph transactions. If Shepard's pay reduction equates to what the team would have saved had they flat out cut him, their off-season cap savings should be around $13-$14 million.