BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns are all on this season. That’s why they couldn’t go into it with Cade York as their kicker.
Monday, the Browns lastly gave up on York, regardless of giving him each alternative to persuade them he may very well be dependable. Cleveland traded for Dustin Hopkins, sending the Los Angeles Chargers a seventh-round choose. A supply advised ESPN the Browns plan to waive York.
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This transfer wasn’t about Hopkins, although the 32-year-old brings expertise and tranquility to a place in want of it. Hopkins has made 84.8% of his 224 profession discipline objective makes an attempt.
This transfer as an alternative was about York and his incapacity to persistently convert kicks.
The Browns have struggled to just do that ever since Phil Dawson’s departure in 2012.
Former Cleveland common supervisor John Dorsey was decided to resolve the issue and drafted Austin Seibert out of Oklahoma with a fifth-round choose in 2019. Seibert, nevertheless, struggled out of the gate his first coaching camp and by no means recovered. After he missed his solely discipline objective and extra-points makes an attempt within the 2020 season opener in Baltimore, the brand new Browns regime led by common supervisor Andrew Berry launched Seibert instantly.
Berry tried to resolve the issue. However that backfired, as effectively.
Final yr, Berry spent a fourth-round choose on York, who had one of the vital adorned kicking careers in LSU historical past. That appeared to be a house run choice after York nailed a 58-yard, game-winning discipline objective final yr to snap Cleveland’s 17-game shedding streak in season openers.
However York’s success proved to be short-lived. He made simply 24 of 32 discipline targets (75%) on the season for one of many worst conversion charges of any beginning kicker within the league.
The Browns didn’t doubt then that York would get better to become the franchise’s long-term kicker. However doubt began to creep in in the course of the preseason.
The Browns nonetheless stood by York even after he missed a pair of potential game-winning makes an attempt — getting a second strive after a penalty — on Aug. 17 in Philadelphia.
“Cade’s our kicker,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski stated then. “We help him. We now have a ton of confidence in him. That is actually so simple as that.”
On Sunday, at some point after York missed one other game-winning try in a loss to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, Stefanski’s tune modified dramatically.
“I feel all roster selections and people kinds of issues are issues that we discuss internally,” Stefanski stated when requested straight whether or not York would begin the opener in opposition to Cincinnati.
That stated all of it, a harbinger of Monday’s kicking change.
Starting with the commerce for quarterback Deshaun Watson final yr, the Browns have pushed all their chips in on profitable now. They’ve given up vital draft capital and signed costly contracts to win this season.
Giving up on a fourth-round choice after just one season from one of many treasured few draft picks the Browns have made within the current previous — and can make within the speedy future — needed to harm.
However York shedding a sport for the Browns would’ve harm much more. Within the AFC, and the AFC North specifically, the margin for error is nearly none.
The Browns couldn’t afford going into the yr with a kicker they now not believed in. Particularly in a season with a lot driving on it.
