The Cleveland Browns added kicker Dustin Hopkins way back in 2023 and despite a rocky 2024 season, Hopkins has the inside track to the kicker job in 2025 (and a hefty dead cap number if cut).
The trade with the Los Angeles Chargers for Hopkins may have been made in 2023, but it doesn’t conclude until the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft this weekend.
Original terms of the Dustin Hopkins trade
Browns receive: Dustin Hopkins
Chargers receive: 2025 seventh-round pick
What did the Chargers do with the pick from the Dustin Hopkins trade?
The seventh-round pick Cleveland sent to Los Angeles landed at 218, but the Chargers don’t own it anymore. Los Angeles sent it to the Atlanta Falcons for backup QB Taylor Heinicke in February 2024. So in essence, the Chargers traded Hopkins for Heinicke.
The Falcons used the selection on Wisconsin OT Jack Nelson.
How was Dustin Hopkins’ performance for the Browns?
Hopkins was really good in 2023, earning a pricey contract extension with the Browns. But after going 91.7% on field goals in his first season with Cleveland, he hit on just 66.7% of his field goal attempts in 2024. He also fell from 92.3% on extra points to 85%.
Who won the Dustin Hopkins trade between the Browns and Chargers?
It’s pretty clear Cleveland won this trade. They got a reliable kicker in 2023. The 2024 of it all isn’t even part of the trade, and 2025 won’t be either as it’s part of the extension not the original deal inherited from Los Angeles.
WINNER: BROWNS