Longsnap.com

The Steelers made an interesting move this week by signing linebacker/snapper Matt Stewart.  Stewart has not played in an NFL regular season game since 2006 and was primarily a linebacker with the Falcons and Browns.  Stewart will compete at the snapper spot with veteran snapper Greg Warren, who was injured last season and replaced by Jared Retkofsky.  Prior to Stewart’s signing, the Steelers waived Retkofsky, who has filled in for Warren over the past two seasons and also snapped in the UFL last season.

There have been two additional snapper signings in the last few weeks.  Both involve street free agents from prior Draft years who had not previously signed an NFL contract.  The Rams signed Clint Mower of Utah, who was elgible for last year’s Draft, and is the only healthy snapper for the Rams as veteran Chris Massey recovers from last season’s injury.  The Bucs signed Chris Mauriello, who previously did some snapping at Penn State.

Of the nine snappers who have signed contracts since the end of the Draft, six of them participated in former NFL special teams coach Gary Zauner’s two combines.  Justin Drescher (Falcons), Morgan Cox (Ravens) and Sam Scroggins (Lions) were at Zauner’s College Senior Specialists Combine, while Jon Weeks (Texans), along with Mower and Mauriello attended the Free Agent Specialists Combine.

The updated snapper chart is attached below.

Snapper Chart (5/27/10)

Things have slowed down a bit for the NFL and the snapping position.  In the last few weeks, the only transaction involved the Seahawks waiving former CFL snapper Pat MacDonald, leaving Matt Overton as the only snapper on the roster.  The updated snapper chart, along with the names of all current NFL special teams coaches, is linked below.

Snapper Chart (5/16/10)

There have been two additional snapper signings in the last few days, as the Seahawks re-signed Matt Overton, who was waived by the team earlier this year, and the Texans added street free agent and former Baylor snapper Jon Weeks.  Weeks is the smallest snapper in the NFL right now at 5’9”.

With these latest signings, as well as the signings of college free agents right after the conclusion of the NFL Draft, below is a chart of snappers by team as training camps approach.

2010 LS May 2010

There has been one additional snapper signing confirmed, as the Lions have added Sam Scroggins from West Virginia State.   Scroggins is the fifth snapper to sign a free agent contract since the end of the Draft.  A couple of snappers have earned tryouts for mini-camp, including Matt Wigley of San Jose State (49ers) and Tom Harrington of Western Michigan (Bears).

I have been able to confirm a few free agent snapper signings since the end of the Draft.  Clint Gresham of TCU signed with the Saints, Mike Windt of Cincinnati signed with the Bengals, Morgan Cox of Tennessee signed with the Ravens and Justin Drescher of Colorado signed with the Falcons.  There may be some more signings and tryouts to come and I will post them as they are confirmed.

The NFL Draft has just concluded and no long snappers were drafted.  Snapper Clint Gresham of TCU was mentioned frequently during the ESPN broadcast and will likely sign a free agent deal now that the Draft has concluded.  Longsnap.com will be updated frequently over the next few days as snappers are signed to free agent deals or offered tryouts.

With the NFL Draft approaching on April 22-24, here is the latest as to each team’s snapping situation.  The Rams recently made Chris Massey one of the highest paid snappers, signing him to a four-year deal.  With Massey’s signing, the remaining unrestricted free agent snappers are Ethan Albright, James Dearth, Kevin Houser, Ryan Neill, client Bryan Pittman and Jeff Robinson.

Seattle recently waived street free agent Matt Overton, leaving Pat MacDonald as the sole long snapper on the roster.  Houston is the only club without a pure snapper on the roster, although they did use tight end Joel Dreessen in that role much of last season.

There were a total of seven special teams coaching changes this off-season.  There are new coaches in Buffalo (Bruce DeHaven), Carolina (Jeff Rodgers), Detroit (Danny Crossman), Philadelphia (Bobby April), Pittsburgh (Al Everest), San Francisco (Keith Schottenheimer) and Seattle (Brian Schneider).

The NFL approved a number of rule changes today, one of which will help snappers on field goals and extra points.  Specifically, the new rule states that a defensive player who is within one yard of the line of scrimmage at the snap must have his entire body outside of the long snapper’s shoulder pads on field goals or extra point attempts.  A similar rule was passed a few years ago, but the safety of snappers remains an issue because of a lack of consistent enforcement of the existing rule.

With free agency underway, there have been two re-signings of unrestricted free agent snappers.  The Atlanta Falcons re-signed Joe Zelenka, while the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints have re-signed Jason Kyle.  Both contracts were for two years.  In addition, the sole restricted free agent snapper to receive a tender offer, Jon Condo, has signed his tender and will remain a Raider for the 2010 season.