Jordan Lynn-Baxter Poyer (born April 25, 1991) is an American professional football safety. He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers, where he was a consensus All-American. Poyer was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2013 NFL draft, but was waived only a few months into his rookie season. After becoming a backup safety for the Cleveland Browns, Poyer later became a starter for the Buffalo Bills, where he formed one of the league's top safety tandems alongside Micah Hyde. Poyer earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl accolades while on the Bills. He has also played for the Miami Dolphins.
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.
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. 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.
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.
On September 14, 2014, Poyer forced a fumble by running back Khiry Robinson during a 30-yard kickoff return by Robinson as time expired during a 26–24 victory against the New Orleans Saints in Week 2. It marked the first forced fumble of Poyer's career. On December 14, 2014, Poyer recorded a season-high four combined tackles in the Browns' 30–0 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15. In Week 17, he made a season-high three solo tackles and assisted on a tackle during a 20–10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He finished the season with 21 combined tackles (15 solo) in 16 games and zero starts.
Poyer returned as the backup free safety behind Tashaun Gipson to begin the regular season in 2015. On October 18, 2015, Poyer earned his first career start in place of Gipson, who suffered an ankle injury the previous week. He recorded three solo tackles, as the Browns lost 26–23 to the Denver Broncos. The following week, he made his second consecutive start and collected a season-high 11 combined tackles (five solo) during a 24–6 loss at the St. Louis Rams in Week 7. He was inactive for two games (Weeks 8–9) after sustaining a shoulder injury. On November 15, 2015, Poyer recorded four combined tackles, broke up a pass, and made his first career interception by Ben Roethlisberger during a 30–9 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10. In Week 14, he recorded two solo tackles and made his first career sack on quarterback Blaine Gabbert during a 24–10 victory against the San Francisco 49ers. On January 3, 2016, Poyer made his fourth career start and made four combined tackles, a season-high two pass deflections, and intercepted Ben Roethlisberger during a 28–12 loss to the Steelers. Following the game, head coach Mike Pettine was officially relieved of his duties by general manager Ray Farmer after the Cleveland Browns finished the season with a 3–13 record. He finished the 2015 season with 43 combined tackles (28 solo), four pass deflections, two interceptions, and a sack in 14 games and four starts.
Throughout training camp, Poyer competed against Rahim Moore for the job as the starting free safety after Tashaun Gipson departed in free agency. Head coach Hue Jackson named Poyer the starting free safety to start the regular season, alongside Ibraheim Campbell.
He started the Browns' season-opener at the Eagles and made six solo tackles in their 29–10 loss. On September 25, 2016, Poyer collected a career-high 13 combined tackles (ten solo) and deflected a pass during a 30–24 loss at the Miami Dolphins in Week 3. On October 16, 2016, Poyer collected three solo tackles before exiting the Browns' 28–26 loss at the Tennessee Titans due to an injury. During the second quarter, Poyer was in the midst of covering a punt when he was hit by an illegal blindside block by running back Antonio Andrews. The Titans were penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness, and Poyer was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a lacerated kidney and a possible concussion. Andrews received criticism among players and the media due to his decision to glorify the hit by posting the video of it to his social media account. On October 18, 2016, the Cleveland Browns placed Poyer on injured reserve, and he was expected to take up to four months to recover. He finished the 2016 season with 39 combined tackles (29 solo) and two pass deflections in six games and six starts.
On March 9, 2017, the Buffalo Bills signed Poyer to a four-year, $13 million contract that includes $7.40 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.50 million. He immediately signed with the Bills on the first day of free agency and was reunited with the Cleveland Browns' former assistant defensive backs coach, Bobby Babich. Babich originally met Poyer while running defensive back field drills at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine.