Seahawks punter Jon Ryan is 36 years old. He has two years left on the four-year, $10 million deal he signed in 2016, though there's the very real possibility that he's not with the team when the regular season begins. That's because Seattle moved up to take punter Michael Dickson in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
And since teams don't typically trade up in the draft for a specialist unless they plan to keep them on the roster, that means Ryan will need an impressive training camp to hold onto the job he's had in Seattle since 2008. And while Ryan may be 15 years older than Dickson, he has no plans of going down without a fight.
[General manager John Schneider] had that attitude almost like, 'Sorry, but I had to do it," Ryan said, according to Jayson Jenks of the Athletic. "And I was like, 'Don't apologize! Do not apologize.' This is the business. If all the players got to pick who was on the team every year, we'd still have the Super Bowl team from five years ago."
Ryan began his professional career in the CFL but after two seasons there he signed with the Packers in 2006. And two years later, he joined the Seahawks, where's he's been ever since.
"If you let me, I'm going to compete my ass off, harder than you've ever seen," Ryan told Schneider. "I love you. I have so much respect for you. But one way or the other, I'm going to make you look really dumb."
Put another way: We have another addition to the"Training camp battles to watch" list -- the 36-year-old Ryan, who ranked 13th among all punters last season, according to Pro Football Focus, vs. the 21-year-old Dickson, the most recent Ray Guy Award recipient.
(CBS Sports)
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