Overpaid Brown Robbed the Team Blind With 2024 Performance (And It Wasn't Deshaun Watson)

There is a long list of disappointing Browns players during the disastrous 2024 season. Finishing the campaign with six straight losses and securing the No. 2 overall pick in the draft was the only silver lining in this miserable year.

Understandably, Deshaun Watson receives the most attention when discussing the overpaid and underwhelming Browns players. He belongs in a tier of his own in that discussion, but he was not the only player who didn't live up to his contract. Veteran kicker Dustin Hopkins also belongs on that list.

After securing a three-year, $15.9 million contract extension in the 2024 offseason, Hopkins was arguably the worst kicker in football this season. His average annual salary put him in the top ten of the highest-paid kickers in the league, but he has played at a level nowhere near the other players in that group.

Of kickers that started for the entire season, Hopkins had the worst accuracy rate in field goals and extra point attempts. The 34-year-old missed nine of his 27 field goal attempts this season for a 66.7 accuracy rate while going 9-of-16 on kicks over 40 yards. Hopkins also went 17-of-20 on extra points.

This was easily the worst season of Hopkins' career. It impacted Cleveland's playcalling at times, costing them in games.

Normally, once a kicker delivers a performance this poor, it's highly unlikely that he would have a starting job the next season. However, Hopkins is under contract for multiple years.

If the Browns were to cut him, they would have $5.6 million in dead money on their books. Plus, they would have to sign another kicker. Paying that much salary for a kicker is ill-advised for any team, let alone a cash-strapped team like the Browns.

That's why Cleveland may be stuck with Hopkins for the 2025 season. The only thing that they can hope for is for Hopkins to start playing better next year.

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