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Tampa Bay Buccaneers News

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers couldn’t find any answers last year for their punting situation, shuffling between three different players during the season.

It appears they’ve found their solution for 2025.  Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Bucs have reached an agreement with free agent punter Riley Dixon, formerly with the Denver Broncos.

Dixon’s stat line for 2024 was significantly better than what the Bucs put on the field.  He punted 77 times for a gross average of 46.7 yards per punt and a 42.0 net average per punt.  How does that compare to the rest of the league?  The Broncos checked in at 12th last season in net punting average.

The Bucs, on the other hand, were dead last in the league in net punting at 37.4 yards per punt.  That’s no small reason why the Bucs used three punters last year.  Jake Camarda, a fourth-round pick in 2022 (ouch), was benched early in the season and punted in four games before being released, posting a net punting average of 36.5, a stark drop off from his previous two seasons.

Trenton Gill was next up, but he didn’t provide much improvement either, posting a net punting average of 38.7 yards in 8 games.  The team gave Jack Browning a shot in the final quarter of the season, but his 34.6 net average was a further step down.

Now, the Bucs have a proven player who the team hopes can take them from the basement to at least a league average production level.

There are a couple of things to note about Dixon.  First, he won’t be kicking half his games in the thin air of Denver anymore, although he still averaged a career-high gross average of 48.4 yards per punt in 2022 with the Rams.  The other is he’s had 7 punts blocked in his career that dates back to 2016, including three years with 2 punts blocked.

Regardless, Dixon appears poised to help lift a sagging area of the Bucs’ special teams for a crucial 2025 season for Todd Bowles.