Major Moves During Free Agency for Long Snappers

Posted on March 20, 2023 by longsnap

Veteran free agency is entering its second week and, while snappers rarely switch teams, that is not the case this year.

First, Joe Cardona signed a new four-year deal to remain in New England and Andrew DePaola signed a new three-year deal in Minnesota. Another veteran, Casey Kreiter, did a one-year deal to remain a Giant and Nick Moore inked a new two-year deal with the Ravens.

Three snappers are changing teams. Former Rams snapper Matt Orzech signed a three-year deal with the Packers. Jacob Bobenmoyer, who was not tendered as a restricted free agent by the Broncos, instead signed a three-year deal with the Raiders. After signing Bobenmoyer, the Raiders released Trent Sieg who is free to sign elsewhere. Finally, former Cowboys snapper Jake McQuaide had tryout with the Lions and signed to a one-year deal. The Lions also have Scott Daly on the roster, who was tendered as an exclusive rights free agent, but not yet signed his contract.

Below are the six unsigned snappers as of this morning:

UNRESTRICTED (6)

Aaron Brewer (Cardinals)

Beau Brinkley (Falcons)

Clark Harris (Bengals)

Tyler Ott (Seahawks)

Matt Overton (Cowboys)

Carson Tinker (Seahawks)

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NFL Special Teams Coaching Update

Posted on March 13, 2023 by longsnap

While there is usually double-digit changes at the special teams coaching position in the NFL, there will be much more stability for the 2023 NFL season. Some new head coaches retained the existing special teams coach that helped maintained stability.

Below are the four new special teams coaches for 2023. Bubba Ventrone moves from the Colts to the Browns and Brian Mason moves from the college ranks to the Colts. Ben Kotwica and Chase Blackburn return to lead the special teams with the Broncos and Rams respectively and each have recent NFL experience with special teams.

CLEVELAND Bubba Ventrone

DENVER Ben Kotwica

INDIANAPOLIS Brian Mason

RAMS Chase Blackburn

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Updated Look at Veteran Free Agency for Long Snappers

Posted on March 11, 2023 by longsnap

Veteran free agency kicks off next week in the NFL and a number of teams locked up their snapper before free agency begins.

Of the potential unrestricted free agents that could sign anywhere once free agency starts, Taybor Pepper of the Niners signed a new three-year deal, while JJ Jansen (Panthers), Jon Weeks (Texans), client Patrick Scales (Bears) and Morgan Cox (Titans) each signed one-year contracts.

Three exclusive rights snappers will return to their teams since they were offered a one-year deal. Those that signed are client Liam McCullough (Falcons), Cal Adomitis (Bengals) and Christian Kuntz (Steelers). Scott Daly (Lions) is the only exclusive rights free agent not to have re-signed at this time.

Two other snappers, Nick Moore (Ravens) and Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos), remain restricted free agents that have limited ability to move if offered a one-year deal.

Below are the remaining unsigned snappers in each category as of this morning:

UNRESTRICTED (11)

Aaron Brewer (Cardinals)

Beau Brinkley (Falcons)

Joe Cardona (Patriots)

Andrew DePaola (Vikings)

Clark Harris (Bengals)

Casey Kreiter (Giants)

Jake McQuaide (Cowboys)

Matt Orzech (Rams)

Tyler Ott (Seahawks)

Matt Overton (Cowboys)

Carson Tinker (Seahawks)

RESTRICTED (2)

Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos)

Nick Moore (Ravens)

EXCLUSIVE (1)

Scott Daly (Lions)

Posted in NFL, Transactions | Comments Off on Updated Look at Veteran Free Agency for Long Snappers

XFL Resumes Today

Posted on February 18, 2023 by longsnap

The XFL returns today but only six teams are using pure long snappers. Two other teams, DC and Orlando, are using position players to handle snaps despite each drafting a long snapper.

The only team that drafted a snapper and replaced him with another snapper was St. Louis who drafted Billy Taylor.

Below are the long snappers for each team.

ARLINGTON: 49 Antonio Ortiz

DC: 80 Trae Barry

ORLANDO: 80 Ryan Becker

HOUSTON: 42 Brian Khoury

SAN ANTONIO: 47 Rex Sunahara

SEATTLE: 45 Thomas Fletcher

ST. LOUIS: 47 Alexander Matheson

VEGAS: 40 Adam Higuera

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Chiefs Win Super Bowl; A Look at Veteran Free Agency

Posted on February 13, 2023 by longsnap

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs and long snapper James Winchester on yesterday’s Super Bowl win which officially ended the current NFL season.

However, there is no off-season in the NFL, as attention will turn to the NFL Combine, veteran free agency and the NFL Draft. Alex Ward is the only long snapper invited to the Combine.

With respect to veteran free agency, the snapping position features a large class of free agents. While some may sign new deals before the start of free agency on March 15th, a total of 16 snappers are unrestricted free agents and can sign with any club if not re-signed.

Two other snappers are restricted free agents that have limited ability to move if offered a one-year deal and four others are exclusive rights free agents which means their teams retain their rights if they are offered a one-year contract.

The snappers in each category are below and will be updated as new deals are announced.

UNRESTRICTED (16)

Aaron Brewer (Cardinals)

Beau Brinkley (Falcons)

Joe Cardona (Patriots)

Morgan Cox (Titans)

Andrew DePaola (Vikings)

Clark Harris (Bengals)

JJ Jansen (Panthers)

Casey Kreiter (Giants)

Jake McQuaide (Cowboys)

Matt Orzech (Rams)

Tyler Ott (Seahawks)

Matt Overton (Cowboys)

Taylor Pepper (Niners)

Patrick Scales (Bears)

Carson Tinker (Seahawks)

Jon Weeks (Texans)

RESTRICTED (2)

Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos)

Nick Moore (Ravens)

EXCLUSIVE (4)

Christian Kuntz (Steelers)

Cal Adomitis (Bengals)

Scott Daly (Lions)

Liam McCullough (Falcons)

Posted in College, NFL, NFL Draft, Transactions | Comments Off on Chiefs Win Super Bowl; A Look at Veteran Free Agency

2023 College All-Star Game Long Snappers

Posted on February 2, 2023 by longsnap

Many of the top long snapping prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft are taking part in college all-stars games to impress scouts and coaches.

The East-West Shrine Bowl takes place tonight, while the Senior Bowl will be played Saturday. Some other key post-season games have already been played.

Here are the snappers for some of the top all-star games this season:

SENIOR BOWL

Alex Ward (UCF) and Robert Soderholm (VMI)

EAST-WEST SHRINE BOWL

Matt Hembrough (Oklahoma State) and Chris Stoll (Penn State)

NFLPA COLLEGIATE BOWL

Soderholm and Dalton Godfrey (South Dakota)

TROPICAL BOWL

Austin Mock (Liberty) and Cameron Lyons (Charlotte)

HULA BOWL

Ward, Stoll and Evan Deckers (Duke)

FCS BOWL

Cody Clements (Eastern Washington) and Joe Skinner (West Georgia)

Posted in NFL, NFL Draft | Comments Off on 2023 College All-Star Game Long Snappers

Long Snapping Update After Conference Championship Games

Posted on January 30, 2023 by longsnap

It will be the Eagles and Chiefs in the Super Bowl and the game will feature experienced snappers on both teams. Rick Lovato (Eagles) and James Winchester (Chiefs) each won Super Bowls and this will be Winchester’s third Super Bowl appearance and Lovato’s second.

There were no tackles in punt coverage until yesterday’s Conference Championship games when Lovato added an assisted tackle and Cal Adomitis (Bengals) had a solo tackle.

Since the end of the regular season, one snapper, Joe Fortunato, signed a reserve/future contract with the Cardinals. Another free agent snapper, client Harrison Elliott, had a tryout with the Packers but was not signed.

Morgan Cox of the Titans was voted the best long snapper on the first-ever NFLPA All-Pro team selected solely by NFL players, while Andrew DePaola (Vikings) and Nick Moore (Ravens) were selected as the AP All-Pro team snappers. The entire AP All-Pro voting results, including the 12 snappers that received at least one vote, can be found here.

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Rick Gosselin’s 2022 NFL Special Teams Rankings

Posted on January 28, 2023 by longsnap

Tomorrow we learn who will play in the Super Bowl but, until then, we have NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s annual evaluation of every NFL team’s special teams units. This year marked the 42nd edition of his rankings and they produced some surprises.

Gosselin ranks every team in 22 kicking-game categories and assigning points for the best to the worst, with the lower total number the better. This year, despite not much success in the win column, the Texans special teams, led by Frank Ross, was the top unit. Ironically, two of the final four teams, the Eagles and Chiefs finished 31st and 32nd.

The top five special teams units were (ranked 1-5):

Houston Texans

Seattle Seahawks

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Buffalo Bills

The bottom five special teams units were (ranked 28-32):

New York Giants

Los Angeles Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Philadelphia Eagles

Kansas City Chiefs

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Week Eighteen in Review

Posted on January 10, 2023 by longsnap

The first ever Week Eighteen of the NFL season is complete and the playoffs start this weekend.

There was a unique situation in the Packers game against the Lions yesterday, as Rasul Douglas of the Packers tried to knock the ball away from Lions snapper Scott Daly on a field goal attempt late in the game. Apparently it was to prevent a practice kick after the Packers called time out, but the strange play was penalized.

Congrats to Matt Overton who led all snappers this year with five tackles following two assisted tackles this week. Overton only started snapping for Dallas in Week Five.

The Bears worked out four snappers this week in case client Patrick Scales could not snap. Scales did snap Sunday, but the Bears signed veteran Kameron Canaday to the practice squad. The tryout also included Joe Fortunato, client Jordan Silver and Steven Wirtel.

In addition to Overton’s two assisted tackles this week, Blake Ferguson (Dolphins) had a solo and assisted tackle, while his brother Reid Ferguson (Bills) had a solo stop. James Winchester (Chiefs) and Zach Wood (Saints) also had solo tackles and Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos) recorded an assisted tackle.

The final NFL Long Snappers Chart for the 2022 Season is below.

Stayed tuned to Longsnap.com for the latest news on any long snappers signed to contracts for next season, how free agency will impact snappers, all star game snappers, special teams coaching changes and more.

2022 Final
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Week Seventeen in Review

Posted on January 3, 2023 by longsnap

NOTE: The Week Seventeen summary was written before the scary injury to the Bills Damar Hamlin in last night’s game.

There was some shaky snapping during the next to last week of the regular season in the NFL.

Hunter Bradley returned to the NFL with the Cardinals, but struggled on some snaps. Zach Triner of the Bucs also had a rare bad punt snap late in the game against the Panthers.

Bradley was signed by the Cardinals to the practice squad and elevated for the game after Aaron Brewer was placed on injured reserve. The Cardinals also worked out Joe Fortunato after signing Bradley. The Jaguars worked out Garrison Sanborn and Steven Wirtel last week and signed Sanborn to the practice squad in case Ross Matiscik could not snap. However, Matiscik was able to snap without issue Sunday.

Three snappers recorded assisted tackles in punt coverage this week. The three were client Patrick Scales (Bears), Jon Weeks (Texans) and Thomas Hennessy (Jets).

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Seventeen is below.

2022 Week Seventeen
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