Browns Veteran Forcing Team to Cut Him as Putrid Play Carries Into Week 11

The Cleveland Browns suffered their second-straight loss, getting demolished 35-14 on the road by the New Orleans Saints. The Saints’ offense hammered the Browns’ defense, posting 475 yards of total offense.

While the Browns’ defense will be a huge topic of conversation in Cleveland, their special teams unit wasn’t better. Veteran kicker Dustin Hopkins came into Sunday’s contest, making 14-of-18 field goals and 10-of-12 extra points.

The 34-year-old kicker was a net negative for the Browns as he missed a 51-yard field goal with 6:50 left in the second quarter. Hopkins followed it up with another miss, but this one was even worse as the Browns were trying to cap off a 14-play, 84-yard scoring drive.

With three seconds left in the first half, Hopkins missed a chip shot field goal from 27 yards. As you can imagine, Browns fans weren’t pleased with Hopkins’ disappointing showing in the first half.

Fans on social media wanted the veteran kicker off the team, especially given that Hopkins had a 51-yard field goal blocked in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Cleveland recently signed Hopkins to a three-year, $15.9 million extension this summer, making it “hard” for the Browns to get rid of him. However, Hopkins only has a cap hit of $2.89 million in 2025. But his cap hits for 2026 and ‘27 are for $3.5 million and $4.4 million.

Therefore, do not expect the Browns to make a move on Hopkins. But he can’t continue to miss kicks heading into next week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, or Cleveland may consider eating that money in order to find someone who can do the job.

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