Jordan Poyer

Jordan Lynn-Baxter Poyer (born April 25, 1991) is an American football safety who is a free agent.

He played college football at Oregon State, where he was named a consensus All-American.

While a senior in high school, he was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.

Poyer played baseball, basketball, and football at Astoria High School.

As a freshman, he helped the baseball team win the state championship and as a senior he helped the football team win the state championship.

As a senior, he was named Oregon's player of the year and was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 42nd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.

In 2009, Poyer was named the baseball Cowapa League Player of the Year.

He was a quarterback and safety on the football team and had 123 touchdowns in three years.

In his senior season, he was the state's player of the year on offense and defense.

Poyer attended Oregon State University and played for the Oregon State Beavers football team from 2009 to 2012.

As a true freshman in 2009, he played in 13 games and had 11 tackles.

The following season, he had 1,109 all-purpose yards and 34 tackles at the cornerback position.

In 2010, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Corvallis Knights and decided to join the 2011 Oregon State Beavers baseball team in the spring.

However, by April, he found the workload to be too much and decided to quit the team.

He described it as "definitely one of the hardest decisions [he had] ever had to make."

All told, he appeared in seven games for the Beavers and had three hits and two walks in fourteen plate appearances.

Poyer started 12 games in 2011.

He was the team's primary punt returner and averaged 14.1 yards per return.

His four interceptions ranked first in the Pac-12, and he also had 57 tackles.

In 2012, Poyer had 51 tackles.

He again led the Pac-12 in interceptions, with seven.

That season, he was named to the All-Pac-12 first-team and was also a consensus All-American.

Poyer did not play college baseball in his first two years at Oregon State.

Poyer was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2013 NFL Draft and has also played for the Cleveland Browns.

The Philadelphia Eagles selected Poyer in the seventh round (218th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft.

On May 9, 2013, the Eagles signed Poyer to a four-year, $2.22 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $60,256.

Throughout training camp, he competed for a roster spot as a backup cornerback against Brandon Boykin, Curtis Marsh Jr.., Trevard Lindley, and Brandon Hughes.

Head coach Chip Kelly named Poyer the fourth cornerback on the depth chart, behind Cary Williams, Bradley Fletcher, and Brandon Boykin.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Philadelphia Eagles' season-opener at the Washington Redskins and recorded three combined tackles in their 33–27 victory.

He made his first career tackle with teammate Nate Allen on tight end Fred Davis after Davis caught a ten-yard pass in the third quarter.

Poyer was relegated to special teams after he was surpassed on the depth chart by Shaun Prater and Roc Carmichael.

On October 19, 2013, the Philadelphia Eagles released Poyer after he was a healthy scratch in their last two games (Weeks 5–6).

On October 21, 2013, the Cleveland Browns claimed Poyer off of waivers.

Upon arrival, head coach Rob Chudzinski named Poyer the backup strong safety behind T. J. Ward after Josh Aubrey was placed on injured reserve due to injuries to his ankle and knee.

On December 8, 2013, Poyer recorded a season-high six solo tackles during a 27–26 loss at the New England Patriots in Week 14.

On December 30, 2013, the Cleveland Browns fired head coach Rob Chudzinski after they finished with a 4–12 record.

He finished his rookie season with 21 combined tackles (20 solo) in 12 games and zero starts.

He also served as a backup punt returner, returning eight punts for 114 yards.

During training camp, he competed for a roster spot as a backup safety against Jim Leonhard, Johnson Bademosi, Josh Aubrey, Robert Nelson, and Darwin Cook.

Head coach Mike Pettine named Poyer the backup free safety, behind Tashaun Gipson, to start the regular season.