Kicker Andre Szmyt Reacts To Earning Starting Job With Browns

There's no denying that Saturday's thrilling kick helped his cause, but the 26-year-old believes him making the roster was about his entire body of work entire body of work. Szmyt was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals and 1-for-1 on PATs in the three games.

"No, I don't really think about it," Szmyt said about whether or not the game-winning kick won him the job. "I just treat every rep as its own and going out there, I have one opportunity the whole game. So you know, I just want to capitalize and make the most of those opportunities."

It's the first time Szmyt has officially made an NFL roster, despite spending time with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He went on to spend the 2024 UFL season as a member of the St. Louis Blackhawks, finishing as the league's kicking leader that season.

That paved the way for the Syracuse product to join the Browns practice squad late last season and then sign a reserve/futures contract with the club in January. Seven months later, and after being released and re-signed during the summer, Szmyt officially earned the starting job.

"It was exciting of course," he said of the news. "But you know, I'm kind of already focused on Week 1 and preparing and staying on my course and my process like I was talking about."

While Szmyt found consistency this summer, the shakiness that plagued veteran kicker Dustin Hopkins in 2024 continued at training camp and in the preseason.

On the heels of a season where Hopkins made just 18 of his 27 field goal attempts and missed three PATs, the 34-year-old went 4-for-6 on extra points across the three preseason games. Despite making all three of his field goal attempts, a critical missed PAT that actually paved the way for Szmyt's game-winner, paved the way for the Browns to terminate his contract.

The move comes with a $2.1 million dead cap hit. It was a small price to pay for what the Browns believe is peace of mind at a critical special teams role. The NFL can be cruel. Fortunately, there's no ill-will between the two, now former teammates. Far from it, actually.

"He meant a lot to me and he's like one of the best guys I've ever met," Szmyt said. "And we briefly caught each other in the locker room and we said some nice words to each other, and I'm always going to be rooting for him and I know he'll be doing the same for me. I have nothing but love for him and respect."

Szmyt also has all of Cleveland in his corner now, as well. Unfortunately, kicking in Cleveland is no easy feat, as Hopkins found out. It's up to Szmyt to try and end a tortured streak of failed kicker experiments since Phil Dawson left in 2012.