Who Should I Start? Graham Gano or Dustin Hopkins

Saturday, February 22, 12:20 PM

The New York Giants don't have any big contracts that they need to shed this offseason and are in a pretty healthy salary cap situation in 2025, but The Athletic's Dan Duggan suggests that kicker Graham Gano could still be a cap casualty as the Giants look to save a little extra money. The 37-year-old veteran is set to count $5.7 million against this year's cap and has missed 16 games because of injury the last two years. If the G-Men decide to cut the kicker, they'd save $3.2 million on the cap while creating $2.5 million in dead money. Gano injured his hamstring in Week 9 in 2024 and ended up playing in only 10 games, going 9-for-11 on his field-goal tries and 15-for-15 on extra points. He's been pretty reliable in his five seasons with New York, making 87.2% of his field goals, but the Giants wouldn't be blamed for looking to go younger at the position.

Saturday, January 4, 9:58 PM

Cleveland Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins made his lone field-goal attempt, a 23-yarder, and added an extra point in a 35-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18. Although Hopkins finished a tough 2024 season on a high note, he overall made just 18 of his 27 field-goal attempts for the Browns this past season. The veteran kicker still has three years remaining on the contract extension he signed before the season, although it wouldn't be a big surprise to see the Browns bring in some competition in training camp next year. That being said, an offseason release would bring a significant cap hit and dead money for the Browns which makes it likely that Hopkins is back with the team for the 2025 season.