HEADLINES

Jon Ryan

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/24

April 17th, 2024 at 8:23pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are some minor moves from around the NFL today:

Cleveland Browns

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

  • Placed on reserve/retired list: P Jon Ryan

Murray has been a journeyman lineman since going undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2016. While his most productive season came over three years with the Cardinals during which he started 20 games in 30 appearances, Murray has spent time in Denver, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Oakland, Buffalo, Las Vegas, and Tennessee. Most recently, he signed to the Browns’ practice squad midseason last year before signing a reserve/futures contract in January. Instead of competing for a roster spot, Murray will join wide receiver Rashard Higgins and linebacker Christian Kirksey in retirement.

Brown, a former sixth round pick out of Penn State, has spent his rookie contract as a core special teamer for the Giants. He’ll attempt to earn a bigger role in Miami in 2024.

After a 12-year NFL career, including 10 straight seasons with the Seahawks, Ryan found himself off of a roster following his 36-year-old season in 2017. Determined to continue playing, Ryan has continued punting, and excelling, in the Canadian Football League over the past few years. Now 42 years old, Ryan seems to have finally resigned to end his football career. He’ll retire a Seahawk.

Extra Points: Watson, Tagovailoa, Prescott

November 22nd, 2020 at 10:13pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Houston Texans are at a crossroads as an organization. After surprisingly firing Bill O’Brien toward the beginning of the year they were left without a head coach and GM. Romeo Crennel and Jack Easterby have taken over those roles on an interim basis, but the franchise is currently in a bit of a rut and lacking direction. They’re also without a lot of draft picks, including their first-rounder next April, due to trades O’Brien made. As they look to dig themselves out of that mess, owner Cal McNair is apparently leaving no stone unturned.

McNair recently had dinner with quarterback Deshaun Watson, the one thing the team has going for them at the moment, and he picked his brain about what he’d like to see moving forward, McNair told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Schefter writes that “McNair wanted to hear Watson’s thoughts and opinions on who should be the next head coach.” Assuming Watson gets legit input, it would be relatively safe to assume the Texans will target an offensive mind. Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy is sure to be a hot name, although there are plenty of other offensive minds as well.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Tua Tagovailoa‘s honeymoon as the Dolphins’ quarterback came to an end Sunday in a loss to the Broncos. Tagovailoa struggled mightily during the defeat, and was pulled for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Speaking after the game, head coach Brian Flores confirmed Tagovailoa did not have an injury and was benched for performance. That being said, Flores also wasted no time declaring that his rookie will be his starter next week, meaning we’ll have to wait again for our first dose of Fitzmagic. Tagovailoa was 11/20 for only 83 yards before getting pulled during the loss, which snapped Miami’s five-game winning streak. He’ll have a get-right spot against the Jets next week.
  • Fortunately, we’ve got another positive update to pass along on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Appearing on the radio Friday, team EVP Stephen Jones said he’s been getting “amazing reports” from doctors on Prescott’s status, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “Shouldn’t come as any surprise,” Jones said. “He does everything to the nines and the 10s and he just does it the very best. He’s been so diligent in his rehab and that shouldn’t surprise anybody. They said if anything he’s ahead of schedule and rolling. That should come as no surprise. So we expect him to have a full recovery.” Jones also reiterated that Prescott avoided any infections, which can sometimes occur with compound fractures. Everything continues to look good for Prescott’s chances of being ready for Week 1 of 2021.
  • Let’s wrap things up with some punter news. Veteran specialist Jon Ryan has been working out and has drawn interest from teams recently, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Ryan is 38 now but clearly has no plans of hanging up his cleats. Pelissero notes he led the CFL in gross punting average last season. He most notably spent ten years as the Seahawks’ punter from 2008-17.

Bills Move Roster To 53 Players

September 1st, 2018 at 5:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bills have moved their roster to 53 players but cutting the following:

Buffalo will take on dead money by releasing Coleman, whom it acquired from Cleveland earlier this year. Ryan lost out in the punting battle to Colton Schmidt.

Bills To Sign Punter Jon Ryan

August 21st, 2018 at 10:22am CST by Zachary Links

Former Seahawks punter Jon Ryan en route to Buffalo and will sign with the Bills when he lands, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Ryan was released by Seattle on Monday, but it didn’t take long for him to find a new gig. 

[RELATED: Seahawks Release Jon Ryan]

Ryan technically requested his release from Seattle, though it was more of a preemptive measure than anything else. Ryan was very fond of the organization and the city after ten years with the club, but he was inevitably going to lose the punting competition to fifth-round pick Michael Dickson.

Ryan isn’t assured anything with the Bills, either. Ryan will compete with Colton Schmidt for the punting job, meaning that he has a few weeks to unseat someone who has spent the last four seasons in that post.

Seahawks To Release Punter Jon Ryan

August 20th, 2018 at 12:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Jon Ryan‘s time with the Seahawks has come to an end. On Monday, the punter took to Twitter to bid farewell to the Seahawks after spending the last ten seasons with the organization. 

“Its been an absolute honor and privilege to play in this great city of Seattle for the past ten years. I never wanted this day to come, but knew it would someday,” Ryan wrote. “Even though I’m leaving, I will always be a Seahawk…I want to thank all of my teammates over the years, Paul Allen, John Schneider, Matt Thomas, and Peter McLoughlin, the amazing coaches I’ve had here: Mike Holmgren, Jim Mora Jr., and Pete Carroll, and the entire support staff at 12 Seahawks Way. But, more than anything, I want thank the 12s. You embraced a pale-skinned, red-headed Canadian with a speech impediment and made him feel like a superstar. I will forever be grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you Seattle.”

Although Ryan is sad to leave Seattle, the writing has been on the wall for some time now. The Seahawks selected fellow punter Michael Dickson in the fifth-round of this year’s draft, so Ryan was unlikely to win the job despite his history with the club and proven abilities as a holder.

Seahawks Notes: Baldwin, Jordan, Thomas

July 31st, 2018 at 9:46pm CST by Ben Levine

Seahawks wideout Doug Baldwin is currently dealing with a knee issue that will force him to miss a couple of weeks, coach Pete Carroll told reporters today.

“We’re gonna give him a couple weeks here before we bring him back out to make sure that we’ve ramped him back up properly,” Carroll said (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson). “He came into camp a little bit off and we just want to make sure that we take care of him. We know exactly what’s going on. He’s doing some special treatments to make sure that we’re taking care of him, and we want to bring him back into shape so we can really get him ready for the long haul.”

Meanwhile, Carroll didn’t sound as optimistic about the recovery of defensive end Dion Jordan, who is sitting on the physically unable to perform list. The head coach described the veteran’s injury as a “stress issue,” although the latest ailment isn’t attributed to Jordan’s offseason knee surgery.

“It’s gonna be a while,” Carroll said. “The word is it’s gonna be a while. He’s got a little bit of healing to do, so it’s gonna be a while.”

Let’s take a look at some more notes out of Seattle…

  • Carroll also told reporters that there’s been zero communication with safety Earl Thomas (via The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta on Twitter). The veteran continues to hold out as he pushes for either a new contract or a trade, and reports have continually connected him to the Cowboys. However, we heard earlier today that Seattle wasn’t going to give away the Pro Bowler for nothing, while the Cowboys aren’t intending on overpaying to acquire Thomas via trade.
  • Peter King of Football Morning in America believes the most general manager John Schneider could get for Thomas would be a conditional 2020 third-rounder from either the Cowboys or Raiders. King even puts in specific conditions: if the safety makes at least 10 starts, Seattle receives a third-rounder. If he doesn’t, Seattle will receive a fourth-rounder.
  • Punter Jon Ryan, the longest-tenured member of the Seahawks, saw his team select fellow punter Michael Dickson in the fifth-round of this past year’s draft. While the 36-year-old understands that his stint in Seattle is likely coming to an end, he admitted to Condotta that the team’s selection also provided some motivation. Ryan also discussed how the punter’s holding duties could play a role in who makes the roster, especially since the Seahawks are auditioning a righty (Jason Myers) and lefty (Sebastian Janikowski) for their kicking gig. This sentiment was echoed by special teams coordinator Brian Schneider. “That’s a huge part (of the job) and Jon’s been so consistent over the years,” Schneider said. “Dickson hasn’t done a whole lot of it, but he’s very talented. He’s got great hands, he’s caught a lot of balls, and so he’s done a really nice job, too.”

Extra Points: Browns, Pryor, Jets

January 3rd, 2018 at 3:30pm CST by Zachary Links

In a reply to on an Instagram post by Duke Johnson, Terrelle Pryor seemed to hint at having interest in returning to the Browns, as ESPN.com’s Pat McManamon writes. The Browns did express interest in reuniting with Pryor before the trade deadline, but it’s not clear whether new GM John Dorsey would want to sign him.

Pryor, who is scheduled to be a free agent in March, had a breakout season with the Browns in 2016, catching 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns. This past year, however, he had only 20 catches for 240 yards and one score in nine games.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins has hired Doug Hendrickson as his agent in advance of free agency, according to Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (on Twitter) wonders if ASJ could be a fit for the Seahawks and notes that Hendrickson has gotten deals done for Michael Bennett, Marshawn Lynch, Dion Jordan, and other players in Seattle.
  • The Seahawks could be looking to replace kicker Blair Walsh and punter Jon Ryan, as Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times writes. This week, the team is meeting with kicker Jason Myers and punter Jeff Locke. Myers was with the Jaguars from 2015 through the first six games of the 2017 season. He was released after missing three pivotal field goals, though they were all from 52 yards or longer. All in all, he connected on 64-of-79 field goal attempts (81%) and 76-of-88 extra points (86.4%) in 38 games with the Jags. Locke, meanwhile, appeared in five games for Detroit.
  • Center Corey Linsley‘s new three-year deal with the Packers is worth $27.3MM and includes an $8MM signing bonus (Twitter link via Tom Silverstein of the Journal-Sentinel). His cap numbers are: $3.85MM in 2017, $4.85MM in ’18, $8.15MM in ’19, and $10.5MM in ’20.

Contract Details: Freeman, Sims, Claiborne

March 13th, 2016 at 8:08pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Here are the latest contract details for players who have agreed to new deals and/or signed them in recent days. Unless otherwise specified, all links are courtesy of Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle…

NFC:

  • Jerrell Freeman, LB (Bears): Three years, $12MM. Deal maxes out at $14.25MM with incentives/escalators. $6MM guaranteed at signing (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of USA Today).
  • Eugene Sims, DE (Rams): Three years, $10MM. $3.75MM in guarantees. $2.25MM salary for 2016 guaranteed. $750K roster bonus due this week. $500K roster bonuses due on the fifth day of the 2017 and 2018 league years. $750K annual incentives for sacks and playoffs (Twitter links).
  • Jon Ryan, P (Seahawks): Four years, $10MM. $3.4MM guaranteed. $2.4MM signing bonus. $1MM salary in 2016 guaranteed. $100K incentives for Pro Bowl and playoffs (Twitter link).
  • James Hanna, TE (Cowboys): Three years, $8.25MM. $2.25MM signing bonus (Twitter link).
  • Emmanuel Lamur, LB (Vikings): Two years, $5.5MM. $2MM guaranteed. $1MM roster bonus due Monday. $15,625 per-game active roster bonus in both seasons (Twitter link).
  • Gino Gradkowski, OL (Panthers): Three years, $3.15MM. $450K signing bonus. $25K annual workout bonus (Twitter link).
  • Morris Claiborne, CB (Cowboys): One year, $3MM. Deal maxes out at $3.375MM with incentives. $500K signing bonus. $1MM in per-game active bonuses (Twitter link via Pelissero).
  • Keenan Robinson, LB (Giants): One year, $2.6MM. $1MM roster bonus due on the 10th day of the 2016 league year. $21,500 per-game active bonus. Up to $900K in playing-time incentives (Twitter link).
  • Sean Weatherspoon, LB (Falcons): One year, $1.5MM. $500K in per-game active bonuses. $750K in playing-time incentives (Twitter link via Pelissero).
  • Travaris Cadet, RB (Saints): One year, $840K. $80K signing bonus (Twitter link)

AFC:

  • Eddie Pleasant, S (Texans): Two years, $2.15MM. $311K roster bonus for 2016. $36K roster bonus for 2017 (link).
  • Matt Cassel, QB (Titans): One year, $2MM. $750K signing bonus. $500K in incentives (Twitter link via Pelissero).
  • Shane Lechler, P (Texans): One year, $1.8MM. $500K signing bonus (link).
  • Nick Novak, K (Texans): One year, 965K. $80K roster bonus due Monday (link).

Seahawks Re-Sign Jon Ryan

March 11th, 2016 at 1:24pm CST by Zachary Links

1:24pm: It’s a four-year deal worth $10MM, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Ryan gets a $2.4MM signing bonus.

12:50pm: Punter Jon Ryan took to Twitter to announce that he has a new four-year pact with the Seahawks. "<strong

“Found out this morning that I will have the honor of playing in front of the greatest fans in the world for 4 more years,” Ryan tweeted.

Ryan, 34, has been with the Seahawks since the 2008 season. With the exception of ’08, Ryan has appeared in all 16 regular season games for the Seahawks in all of his Seattle seasons. For his career, which also includes two seasons with the Packers, Ryan owns a 44.8 yard-per-attempt average on his punts. Ryan turns 35 in November, so this new four-year deal could potentially take him through his age-39 season.

In other Seahawks news, the team re-signed receiver Jermaine Kearse this wek.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Fallout From Bobby Wagner Extension

August 2nd, 2015 at 10:40am CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at how Bobby Wagner‘s new four-year, $43MM deal impacts his club and several other teams with linebackers anticipating a new contract.

Seahawks

  • ESPN’s Andrew Brandt tweets that the Seahawks structured Russell Wilson‘s extension to give them maximum salary cap room for this season, thereby allowing them to sign Wagner to a long-term contract. As such, the team will probably need Wilson to restructure his deal a couple years from now.
  • Wagner made some waves on Friday when he tweeted “Can’t keep everyone.” As former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets, that message may end up applying to Seattle left tackle Russell Okung, whose contract expires at the end of this year. Bruce Irvin, who is also eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of 2015, may also be playing his last year in a Seahawks uniform.
  • The Wagner extension has inevitably called attention to the contract situations of Kam Chancellor and Michael Bennett, who are both unhappy with their current deals (Chancellor, of course, has decided to hold out of training camp). Corry tweets that, if the Seahawks address Chancellor’s contract, it would “create an issue” with Bennett. Chancellor does have three years left on his contract, so should the Seahawks rework his deal in any way, Corry tweets that Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas will both expect the same treatment in 2016.
  • Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times believes the Seahawks will likely want to keep guard J.R. Sweezy, who is playing in the last year of his contract, but it is too early to say how the team will approach impending free agent punter Jon Ryan (Twitter links).

Buccaneers

  • Rand Getlin of the NFL Network tweets that the Wagner deal was “always going to inform the Lavonte David deal,” a sentiment shared by several other prominent scribes. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, though, is not so sure. Fitzgerald points out (via Twitter) that David and Wagner play completely different positions and that David, as a non-pass rushing outside linebacker, is likely to land around $3MM less per season than Wagner.
  • In any event, Getlin tweets that David and the Bucs will continue to talk over the coming days, and both sides are reportedly motivated to strike a deal.
  • Corry tweets that Tampa Bay prefers contracts longer than four years when it comes to extending its best players, so that may be what the team is aiming for with David.

Lions

  • DeAndre Levy, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of this season, saw Wagner’s deal and hopes to remain with the Lions, but he said he will leave all contract talk to his agent (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press).