The Cleveland Browns have locked up kicker Dustin Hopkins for the long haul. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team has signed him to a 3-year deal worth $15.9 million.
It makes him a top-five highest-paid kicker in football and surpasses the deal Pittsburgh Steelers K Chris Boswell received in 2022.
Per Schefter, here are the top five from an average yearly value perspective.
The Browns acquired Hopkins in a rare specialist trade shortly before the 2024 season. The Los Angeles Chargers dealt Hopkins to the Browns for a 2025 seventh-round pick. It proved to be a shrewd move. Hopkins enjoyed a career year, making 33-of-36 field goals, including a perfect 8-of-8 from 50-plus yards.
Hopkins kicked the game-winner to beat the Steelers in Week 11, a 34-yard boot to break a 10-10 tie.
Hopkins will look to continue his success in 2024. The AFC North is stacked with some of the league’s best legs. The Baltimore Ravens have a future Hall of Famer in Justin Tucker, while Boswell has been among football’s best for nearly a decade. No one has mastered the 50-plus-yard field goal in Pittsburgh like he has. The Cincinnati Bengals also hit on Evan McPherson, another strong-legged kicker.
In his 2024 “Ranking The Rooms” series, which encompassed all special teams units, our Josh Carney ranked the Ravens first, Steelers second, Browns third, and Bengals fourth.
The Browns will play the Steelers in Weeks 12 and 14 as part of Pittsburgh’s quirky schedule, which sees them play all six divisional games between Weeks 11-18.
