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This is probably the first article you’ve ever read about a backup long snapper. It’s certainly the first I’ve ever written. But the New York Giants signed Cameron Lyons as an undrafted free agent this offseason, and he gets a Big Blue View roster profile just like Daniel Jones or Saquon Barkley.
Let’s see what he brings to the table.
By the numbers
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 225
Age: 24
Position: Long snapper
Experience: Rookie
Contract: Year 1 of three-year, $2.698 million rookie deal; $3,000 guaranteed | 2023 cap hit: $751,000
Career to date
Lyons started almost every possible game in two years at the University of Akron and two years at UNC Charlotte. He received an an All-Conference Honorable Mention both years at Charlotte. Special Teams U, a long snapper clinic, also named Lyons an Honorable Mention All-American.
He appeared in the Tropical Bowl in Orlando, Fla. this January, an All-Star game meant to showcase the nation’s top college seniors to NFL scouts.
Lyons is one of six rookie long snappers to sign with an NFL team following the draft. For what it’s worth, he’d be one of the shortest and lightest long snappers in the league — not that he’s expected to make many open-space tackles anyway.
2023 outlook
Barring something unusual, Casey Kreiter will be the Giants’ long snapper in 2023. Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey confirmed in June that there will not be a competition.
If Lyons impresses McGaughey and the rest of the Giants’ staff during training camp, he might stick around on the practice squad as a developmental player. Kreiter, 32, is entering his eighth NFL season and is on a one-year contract. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s nearing retirement, as there are several long snappers who are older than him. But New York might want to have someone in place for when they decide to move on.
And hey, maybe in a few years Lyons’ annual roster profile will be an article about a starting long snapper instead of a backup. Gotta dream big.
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