Riders make Regina’s Jon Ryan the highest paid punter in the CFL

The Saskatchewan Roughriders paid Jon Ryan lots of green to play for his hometown team.

Ryan has inked a one-year deal worth approximately $100,000 including incentives which makes the 37-year-old the highest paid punter in the Canadian Football League.

The news was first reported by former Riders radio play-by-play man Rod Pedersen and confirmed by Ryan himself.

https://t.co/ioeiLcrNkS 💚⚪️🇨🇦 Let’s Go!!!

— Jon Ryan (@JonRyan9) May 14, 2019

It’s a dream come true for Ryan to play for the Riders. Ryan was born and raised in Regina developing football skills at Sheldon-Williams Collegiate high school and playing for the University of Regina Rams where he earned USports (at the time CIS) All-Canadian status.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers selected Ryan in the third round, 24th overall, of the 2004 CFL draft. Ryan handled the punting duties for two seasons, leading the CFL with a 50.6-yard average in 2005.

NFL teams took notice of Ryan’s strong leg and Green Bay signed him to a contract. Ryan spent two seasons with the Packers. After that, Ryan moved on to Seattle for 10 seasons, including a Super Bowl championship in 2014.

During training camp in 2018, Ryan was released by Seattle. The Buffalo Bills signed Ryan but let him go less than two weeks later and he didn’t play the rest of the season. Ryan punted 914 times for 40,895 yards and a 44.7-yard average – with 311 punts inside the 20-yard line in 191 NFL games.

The Riders paid for a local star who has a proven NFL pedigree, the move makes sense on many levels and is really worth the investment for Saskatchewan.