BIG ADDITION: Browns’ Trade for $9 Million NFL Smartest star

In the weeks leading up to the season, the Cleveland Browns were active on the trade market, making one of the best and one of the worst deals in the NFL.

On Sunday, November 12, the Browns defeated the Ravens by a score of 33-31 in Baltimore. The clock struck zeroes as a football from Cleveland kicker Dustin Hopkins’ boot soared through the uprights, giving his team its signature victory of the season.

Following the game, ESPN’s Field Yates took to social media to praise the Browns and their decision to trade for Hopkins, as well as the price they paid for him.

“Dustin Hopkins for a 7th-round pick in 2025.” “One of the smartest offseason moves,” Yates wrote on X. “Huge win for @Browns.”

Hopkins, Dustin Has been the Browns’ go-to guy all season.
Cleveland’s trade for Hopkins, and the events that led up to it, are a rare example of an NFL team admitting and correcting a mistake before it causes further harm.

The Browns selected LSU kicker Cade York in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. York had a few standout performances during his rookie season, but he was ultimately too erratic in big moments. According to Pro Football Reference (PFR), he finished the season with a 75% made field goal rate (24-of-32) and 35 extra points out of 37 attempts.

During the summer, York struggled, going 4-of-8 on field goal attempts and missing a kick in all four of Cleveland’s preseason games. As a result, the Browns exchanged a seventh-round pick for Hopkins, who lost his starting job in Los Angeles to Cameron Dicker.

Hopkins’ contract was not easy to swallow, as the 33-year-old kicker is in the second year of a three-year, $9 million deal. The move has paid off, as Hopkins has been named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice in his first eight games.

According to PFR, Hopkins entered Week 10 as the league leader in field goal attempts (23) and field goal made (20). On Sunday, he went 4-for-4 against the Ravens, including the game-winning field goal. He was 1-of-2 on extra points, bringing his season total to 14-of-15.

York has yet to kick a regular-season goal in 2023. Following his release from the Browns, he joined the Tennessee Titans practice squad. Following Graham Gano’s injury, the New York Giants signed York off the practice squad in early November to compete for the starting job.

The Browns made a bad decision by trading their quarterback. Dobbs, Josh

Celebrating the Browns front office’s successful decisions necessitates an examination of the failures, especially when both occur so close together.

Cleveland may have made the worst preseason trade by sending quarterback Josh Dobbs to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2024. Dobbs started eight games for the Cardinals in the desert, leading them to an unlikely victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Dobbs was then traded to the Minnesota Vikings just before the October 31 deadline in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. Dobbs has since led the Vikings to two victories, totaling five touchdowns and earning QBRs of 86.6 and 88.3, respectively.

The Browns have used backups to start three of their nine games this season, and they needed a reserve to replace Deshaun Watson against the Indianapolis Colts after he left that game with an injury after only throwing five passes.

Cleveland went 2-2 in those games without Watson, though P.J. Walker struggled, as did rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson before him. Dobbs would have provided an unquestionable boost to the Browns in Watson’s absence, but will instead try to lead the 6-4 Vikings to a playoff berth.