Riley Dixon
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers punter Riley Dixon.
For Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans who watched the team’s mind-numbing struggles on special teams in 2025, bringing back punter Riley Dixon isn’t exactly the best news.
“Buccaneers exercised the option on punter Riley Dixon’s contract, preventing him from becoming a free agent and tying him to Tampa for the 2026 season, per source,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on Wednesday.
Dixon, 32 years old, signed a 2-year, $6 million contract with the Buccaneers before the 2025 season and will be paid approximately $3 million in 2026.
The Buccaneers previously seemed on the fence about bringing back Dixon, who had 2 punts blocked in the first 4 games of the regular season and was one of the NFL’s worst punters — he finished 29th in the NFL at 44.7 yards per punt.
“Bowles said the team hasn’t decided if they’ll exercise an option on punterRiley Dixon, who would make $3 million in 2026, including an upcoming $500k roster bonus,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote on February 24. “Dixon ranked 31 out of 35 punters in average in 2025 and 28th in net punting.”