The former Denver Broncos All-Rookie punter, Riley Dixon, will be a nice upgrade at the position for the New York Giants special teams unit.
The New York Giants have made a trade. Well, not regarding the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft like some are hoping, but Giants general manager Dave Gettleman made a trade Friday night to acquire punter Riley Dixon from the Denver Broncos.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Friday evening that the Giants engaged in talks to acquire Dixon, who was put on the trading block by the Broncos after the team signed former Oakland Raiders punter Marquette King earlier this month.
Sources: The #Giants are in the process of trading for #Broncos P Riley Dixon. When Marquette King signed in Denver, he was on the trading block and NYG swooped in.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 20, 2018
The deal is for a conditional seventh-round pick reports Mike Klis of 9News.com.
Dixon averaged 45.6 yards a punt last season for the Broncos. In 2016, Dixon made the All-Rookie team for Denver, averaging 45.7 yards a punt and pinned teams inside their own 20-yard line eight 28 times. He pinned teams inside their own 20-yard line 23 times during the 2017 season.
With the Broncos signing King, Dixon skipped the team’s voluntary workout program that began on Monday.
Punter is a position that is open for the Giants on their special teams unit after releasing Brad Wing this offseason.
Wing averaged 44.1 yards a punt for the G-Men last season, but his net average was only 36.7 yards, the worst of his career. It ranked the worst in the NFL too.
Dixon’s net average has been over 40 yards each of his first two seasons in the NFL. Wing only had a net average of over 40 yards once in his career back in 2016 with the Giants.
The Broncos drafted Dixon out of Syracuse in the seventh-round of the 2016 NFL Draft. After the draft, Dixon signed a four-year rookie contract with the Broncos worth $2.4 million with a signing bonus of $80,009 and $80,009 guaranteed.
Spotrac estimates that Dixon will carry a $650,002 cap hit this upcoming season for the Giants.
Dixon will certainly be a nice upgrade for the Giants at the punter position.
The Giants have invested heavily on improving their special team unit this offseason, signing Dixon’s teammate, Denver’s Cody Latimer, as a player to help them in all phases of special teams game and at the wide receiver position.
