Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Cairo Santos

Tuesday, August 26, 3:18 PM

The Cleveland Brown released kicker Dustin Hopkin on Tuesday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It appears that Andre Szmyt will open the 2025 regular season as the team's placekicker, although the Browns could still bring in more competition before Week 1. Hopkins will be let go after spending the last two seasons kicking for Cleveland, where he went 51-for-63 on his field-goal attempts (81%) and 41-for-46 on his extra-point tries in 31 total games. The final straw for the 34-year-old veteran might have been when he missed one of his two extra-point tries in the preseason finale on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams. Hopkins entered training camp on shaky ground at the position after going 18-for-27 on his field goals in 16 games a year ago.

Saturday, November 15, 2:32 PM

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos has been a safe floor option at the position this season. Through seven games, Santos has made 12 of 15 kicks, while making all 20 extra point attempts. Santos is averaging 9.1 fantasy points per game this season, which puts him on pace to finish as the 13th-ranked kicker. The Bears face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, which will be Santos's first indoor game since Week 2. Despite the ideal kicking conditions, the Vikings may fare as a tough matchup for the veteran kicker, as only one other team has forced more missed field goals this season than the Vikings. Santos is a low-end starting option against the Vikings, as he looks to have his first big game of the 2025 season.