The Cleveland Browns were active on the trade market in the weeks leading up to the season, making one of the best deals in the NFL and one of the poorest.
The positive was on display in Baltimore on Sunday, November 12, as the Browns bested the Ravens 33-31. The clock struck zeroes as a football off the boot of Cleveland kicker Dustin Hopkins soared through the uprights and earned his team its signature win of the season.
Field Yates of ESPN took to social media following the game and praised the Browns and their decision to deal for Hopkins as well as the price they paid to acquire him.
“Dustin Hopkins for a 2025 7th-round pick. One of the smartest moves of the offseason,” Yates wrote on X. “Huge win for @Browns.”
Cleveland’s trade for Hopkins, and the steps that led to that decision, offer the rare example of an NFL team admitting its mistake and correcting it before more damage is done.
The Browns spent a fourth-round draft pick in 2022 on kicker Cade York out of LSU. York had a moment or two during his rookie campaign but was ultimately too erratic in big moments. He finished the season with a 75% made field goal rate (24-of-32) and connected on 35 extra points out of 37 attempts, per Pro Football Reference (PFR).
York struggled during the summer, going 4-of-8 on field goal attempts and missing a kick in all four of Cleveland’s preseason games. As a result, the Browns traded a seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for Hopkins, who lost his starting job in L.A. to Cameron Dicker.
Leave a Reply