Browns Have No Choice But to Cut Starter After Week 14

The Browns got stomped by the Steelers in an embarrassing Week 14 performance. While Cleveland's season was already lost, one starter in particular deserves to be benched.

Kicker Dustin Hopkins suffered through a disaster day. The 34-year-old veteran has seemingly fallen off a cliff from a production standpoint, illustrated by his 38-yard field goal miss against Pittsburgh.

Hopkins certainly isn't why the Browns lost by 20+ points, though his struggles have become a major issue that need to be addressed.

Browns Must Bench Kicker Dustin Hopkins After Week 14 Meltdown

So far this season, Hopkins has made just 16 of his 23 field goals. He's missed two extra points as well, making him perhaps the NFL's worst kicker by any objective measure.

Cleveland's season is over. Hopkins' struggles give the Browns a better draft pick but it's become clear that he cannot remain this team's kicker moving forward. A smart front office would continue to trot out the league's least-efficient kicker to ensure a high draft pick, yet we've seen countless examples proving Cleveland's group doesn't think critically.

Hopkins has enjoyed a long, storied career. He's been reliable and a bonafide weapon on special teams, yet it's become obvious his time in the NFL should end.

Regardless of how Hopkins performs the rest of the season, the Browns need to move on if they're serious about competing in 2025. The same holds true for Deshaun Watson and he's not going anywhere, so perhaps the Haslam family is content to let their franchise toil in pathetic mediocrity for the next few years.

Should the Browns get serious about competing, Hopkins has no place on the roster moving forward.

More Cleveland Browns News: