Eight-year NFL kicker Dustin Hopkins signed a one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Washington Football Team. Hopkins, a former sixth-round pick, spent the 2020 season with the Washington Football Team but has also played for the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills.
Washington is signing kicker Dustin Hopkins to a one-year veteran qualifying contract worth $2,462,500, including $1,887,500 fully guaranteed.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 15, 2021
Dustin Hopkins, Washington Football Team, Agree to Contract
Dustin Hopkins is coming off of yet another good-but-not-great season with the Washington Football Team. Appearing in all 16 games, the Florida State product converted 27 of his 34 field goal attempts to go with 30 of his 32 extra points. However, it’s worth noting that most of Hopkins’ misses came on difficult kicks. Hopkins was nearly automatic in the short portion of the field, connecting on 12 of his 13 kicks from within 40 yards.
Hopkins initially entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Selected by the Buffalo Bills, the rookie began his career competing with Ryan Lindell for the starting job. While the rookie won the position out of the gate, he never actually played a game with the Bills. Hopkins suffered an injury prior to the start of the season and eventually landed on the injured reserve. The Bills signed Dan Carpenter to replace him, and Carpenter played well enough to keep the job beyond 2013.
After spending the majority of 2014 out of football, Hopkins signed with the New Orleans Saints practice squad late in the 2014 season. The team brought him back on a futures contract, but Hopkins eventually lost out on the 2015 job to Zach Hocker. Fortunately, Hopkins landed on his feet, signing with the Washington Redskins early in September.
Since then, Hopkins has had firm control of the kicking position in Washington. He successfully hit on 89.3% of his field goals in 2015 and attempted a league-high 42 in 2016. Throughout the course of his career, Hopkins has converted 151 of his 180 field goal attempts (83.9%) and 169 of his 178 field goal attempts (94.9%).
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