Cleveland Browns Need to Solve Kicker Issue Before Week 2

Kevin Stefanski knows that rookie kicker Andre Szmyt was a big reason as to why the Cleveland Browns came up short against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.

“Obviously, Andre knows we trust him, knows that he’s gotta come through for us in those moments,” Stefanski said on Monday. “I thought he had a really good warmup, banged a couple early in the game and missed those two kicks at the end.”

Of course, a head coach cannot release a kicker in the news conference immediately following the game or the day after. But it’s clear that the Browns are unsatisfied with their current kicking situation.

“Those are kicks that we expect him to make, but I’m really just focused on that game and we expect him to come through for us,” Stefanski said.

The list of Browns kickers is growing as long as their list of quarterbacks since 1999. Since the team moved on from the super-dependable Phil Dawson after the 2012 season, the team has not found a long-term solution.

It looked like general manager Andrew Berry’s trade for Dustin Hopkins right before the 2023 season began could have been the winning solution. Draft pick Cade York was wildly inconsistent despite a massive leg, and Berry sent a seventh-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Chargers for Hopkins, who lost his kicking competition with Cameron Dicker, who is still kicking in California.

Hopkins was awesome in 2023 but fell off entirely in 2024. His contract extension made him almost uncuttable. But the Browns decided that they had to move on after his kicking woes followed him into the 2025 preseason.

Szmyt kicked at Syracuse before landing a free agent contract with the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks. It feels like he could be heading back to that league. There’s no guarantee that he will even remain Cleveland’s kicker as the team travels to Baltimore to face the Ravens in Week 2.

The Browns do not currently have any other kicking options in house. They do not carry one on their practice squad.

According to Over the Cap, the top free agent kickers include Hopkins, Greg Zeurlein, Eddy Pineiro and Michael Badgley. Former Browns kickers York, Zane Gonzalez and Austin Seibert are all free agents as well.

The Browns could also decide to claim a kicker off of another team’s practice squad. The Buffalo Bills are elevating Matt Prater from their practice squad each week. Riley Patterson was elevated from the Miami Dolphins practice squad before Week 1.

There’s a handful of veteran options available. We’ll see if the Browns decide to bring in some kickers for a tryout or if Szmyt will have a shot at redemption in Week 2.