The Cleveland Browns put a lot of emphasis on having a strong special teams unit.
Cleveland has one of the best coaches in the league with Bubba Ventrone heading the group, helping the Browns achieve the most out of the third – and often overlooked – phase of the game.
Now, the Browns have secured kicker Dustin Hopkins to a three-year, $15.9 million contract extension that keeps the athlete in Cleveland until after the 2027 season.
Analyst Adam “The Bull” Gerstenhaber is not a fan of the team’s decision to extend Hopkins with a salary that ranks among the top five highest salaries for kickers in the NFL.
The “Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show” shared a video clip to Twitter where Gerstenhaber questioned the organization’s decision to pay Hopkins over $5 million on a per-year basis.
“My first reaction was why on Earth would you pay a lot of money to a kicker,” Gerstenhaber said.
.@adamthebull gives his initial reaction to the reports of the #Browns giving kicker Dustin Hopkins a new deal #DawgPound | https://t.co/2L8kNA4a2G pic.twitter.com/StXNiyllOI
— Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show (@ultCLEsports) July 16, 2024
The analyst explained that Hopkins was “an average at best kicker before last year,” suggesting the 33-year-old could be interchanged with another kicker in the league without the Browns experiencing a drop-off in talent at the position.
Further, Gerstenhaber added that wide receiver Amari Cooper – who staged a holdout from Cleveland’s mandatory minicamp last month – should be “pissed off” because other players are receiving new contract extensions while he and the team have yet to come to terms on a new deal.
Gerstenhaber did yield that the Browns are willing to spend up to the salary cap each year, and signing Hopkins to the pricey extension should not prevent Cleveland from offering other players new deals.
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