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 22, 9:59 AM

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos is coming off his best game of the season in Week 11, knocking down four of five field goals, including the game-winner to beat the division rival Minnesota Vikings. It's been an up-and-down year for Santos, who's fought through injuries and kicker controversy with Jake Moody earlier in the year. With Moody in Washington and the injuries behind the veteran kicker, Santos will look to fire off a strong finish to his 12th season. He faces a great matchup in Week 12, against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that has allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to kickers this season. With good weather expected and a ton of confidence, Santos is worth starting in Week 12.