Longsnap.com

With free agency well into its second week, veteran snapper signings have continued.  Morgan Cox reached a one-year deal to stay with the Ravens, while former Chiefs snapper Thomas Gafford signed a one-year deal with the Bears.

Gafford is one of the rare instances where a snapper has changed teams during veteran free agency.  At the time of his signing, the Bears were the only team without a snapper on the roster after Jeremy Cain handled the snapping duties last season.  Cain remains one of the few remaining veteran free agent snappers on the market.

Dallas also signed Casey Kreiter, who was in camp with them last season, as competition for veteran LP Ladouceur.

In the last few days, there have been two new long snapper signings.  The Jets brought back veteran Tanner Purdum on a two-year deal, while the Chiefs added street free agent James Winchester.

Winchester has prior experience with the Eagles and is now the third snapper on the roster for Kansas City.  He joins Jorgen Hus and Brandon Hartson as it appears that the Chiefs may have moved on from veteran Thomas Gafford, who is an unrestricted free agent.

For as long as I have been following the long snapping position over the last 20 years or so, I cannot recall a snapper changing teams in free agency.  Most teams simply retain their existing snapper if they are still performing at high level and its makes economic sense.

This year is no different as veterans Cullen Loeffler (Vikings) and Mike Leach (Cardinals) each signed new contracts for another season with their 2014 teams.  Exclusive rights free agent Patrick Scales (Ravens) was tendered a one year contract by Baltimore, while the Ravens did not tender Kevin McDermott, making him a free agent.

With all of the recent snapper signings, there are just six remaining unrestricted free agents.  The five are Morgan Cox, Clint Gresham, Tanner Purdum, Thomas Gafford, Jeremy Cain and Danny Aiken.

The fourth and final restricted free agent snapper, Beau Brinkley of the Titans, has signed a new five year contract to stay in Tennessee.  Yesterday, I reported on the other three deals and initially forgot to mention that Brinkley was the fourth restricted free agent.

With all the restricted free agents under new deals, only the unrestricted free agent snappers remain subject to the open market next week.  The eight unrestricted snapper are Morgan Cox (Ravens), Jeremy Cain (Bears), Clint Gresham (Seahawks), Mike Leach (Cardinals), Tanner Purdum (Jets), Thomas Gafford (Chiefs), Danny Aiken (Patriots) and Cullen Loeffler (Vikings).

There were four NFL long snappers scheduled to become restricted free agents next week.  Restricted free agents have three years of NFL service and their current teams must offer them a one year contract at a designated monetary amount to secure the right to match any offers from other clubs.  This year, the one year restricted free agent contract amount was over 1.5 million in salary. Faced with that reality, three of the snappers agreed to new four year deals with their teams this week.

Matt Overton of the Colts was the first to extend his deal to avoid the restricted free agent contract amount.  Aaron Brewer of the Broncos and Kyle Nelson of the Niners followed and all three are now under contract with their existing teams for four years.  Beau Brinkley of the Titans is the sole remaining restricted free agent snapper and reports indicate that the Titans are working on a new deal for him.

Veteran free agency starts in the NFL next week and three potential free agents have signed new deals with their teams.  Unrestricted free agents Greg Warren (Steelers) and Don Muhlbach (Lions) each signed one year contracts, while the Colts gave Matt Overton, a potential restricted free agent, a new four year deal.

Two other teams have added street free agent snappers, as the Seahawks signed Luke Ingram and the Patriots adding Tyler Ott, who spent some time with New England last season.

Eleven other veteran snappers are set to become free agents next week so more signings are expected soon.