A little bit of breaking news happened for the Los Angeles Chargers. They have had a camp battle between their two kickers, Cameron Dicker and Dustin Hopkins. Both had done great throughout training and showed it on the field in the preseason games as well. Neither kicker missed a field goal or an extra point in any of the preseason games. The question had always been which of the two reliable kickers the Chargers were going to go with come the cut deadline of Tuesday, August 29th. We now know the answer to that question.
Kicker Dustin Hopkins Traded
On the morning of August 28th, the Chargers announced they were trading kicker Dustin Hopkins to the Cleveland Browns for a 2025 seventh-round pick. The Browns later made the same announcement confirming the transaction. The Browns had drafted the kicker, Cade York, the year prior, but after a down rookie season and an even worse preseason showing, the Browns felt it necessary to give the kicking job to someone else. According to Nick Shook in his article with the NFL, York had a measly 50% accuracy during the preseason. He only connected on four of his eight field goal tries.
Now, the Browns will give it a go with their new kicker, Dustin Hopkins. As a fan, it was great seeing Hopkins kick for the Chargers last year. He especially showed how reliable he could be winning the game in week 6 of the 2022 season. Not only did he win the game, but he did it on an injured leg. With every kick, you could see Hopkins fall to the ground and grimace in pain, yet he never gave up and he kicked when asked to. Along with that, he didn’t miss any of his tries in that game. That is who the Browns are getting, which could be well worth a seventh-round pick.
How This Benefits The Chargers
This move is a great move for the Chargers. While most may think it’s just a seventh-rounder, you are mistaken. Not only do the Chargers get a late pick for a player they were likely going to cut anyway, but they save some cap space without any dead money, as Cameron Dicker is on a cheaper salary than Hopkins. Along with that, the Chargers can now move forward with Dicker taking all of the kicking reps and focusing on the start of the season. There is a worst-case and a best-case scenario for every situation. This is as close to a best-case scenario as you can get.
Also, don’t take for granted how important that seventh-round pick might be for the Chargers. Now that Herbert has signed his new big 5-year deal, the Chargers aren’t going to be able to keep a lot of their players going forward. They’ll need to rely more on their rookie draft picks, to the point that their late-round picks may be vital and year-one starters. With the Chiefs being a rival of my Chargers, I know firsthand how important their 7th-round pick, Isiah Pacheco, was to their Super Bowl season.
As a Chargers fan, I would have totally been fine if the Chargers decided to stick with Hopkins, but Dicker was the guy I was rooting for, so I’m very happy with their decision. Don’t get me wrong, I want nothing but the best for Hopkins on his new journey with the Browns, but Dicker is definitely the right choice in my opinion. She only missed one kick last year during the regular season and only once in his lone playoff game. My hope, and every other Chargers fan, is that he continues the consistency through next season as well.
