Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Matthew Wright

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.

Friday, November 7, 10:04 AM

NFL reporter for the Houston Texans, Aaron Wilson, reported on Friday that the Texans will turn to Matthew Wright as their kicker in Week 10 as Ka'imi Fairbairn (quadriceps) is injured and not able to go against their division opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Wright has kicked for multiple NFL teams and was last with the Washington Commanders. He has made 56 of 65 career kicks and 43 of 45 extra points. He has also kicked for the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Jaguars, Wilson reports. This is a big matchup for the Texans, as a loss will send them further to the bottom of the AFC South standings. The Texans sit at (3-5), while the Jaguars are at (5-3), and both are looking up at the division leaders, the Indianapolis Colts, at (7-2). A win here for the Texans could continue to give them hope down the stretch and help them make a run with a big division win. The Jaguars have allowed the second-fewest points to opposing kickers, making Wright a challenging play in Week 10.