NFL Player News

Coach Kevin Stefanski relayed earlier this week that Hopkins has recovered from the hamstring injury he sustained last December, Scott Petrak of BrownsZone.com reports.

The injury sidelined Hopkins for the Browns' last two regular-season games, as well as the team's playoff loss to the Texans. Per Petrak, Hopkins wasn't initially present for this week's voluntary OTAs, but once the kicker returns to the mix, he'll be set to lead a kicking corps that also includes Cade York and Lucas Havrisik.

Gano (knee) participated in OTAs on Tuesday, per the Giants' official site.

Gano played in the first eight games of 2023 before landing on the IR in November due to a left knee injury that required season-ending surgery. He was back on the field doing kicking drills during OTAs on Tuesday. Gano finished the 2023 season having gone 11-for-17 on field-goal attempts while making all eight of his extra-point tries.

Havrisik was waived by the Browns on Tuesday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Havrisik signed a reserve/future contract with Cleveland in January after the Rams waived him. He was expected to at least have the opportunity to compete with Dustin Hopkins (hamstring) and Cade York for the team's kicker job in 2024, but instead, he'll become a free agent once again.

Ryland is slated to face competition from veteran kicker Joey Slye, who is in line to sign with the Patriots, Mark Daniels of masslive.com reports.

A fourth-round pick of the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft, Ryland is coming off a rookie campaign in which he made just 64 percent of his field-goal attempts (16 of 25). Though the Maryland product has a strong kicking leg, he'll need to display better accuracy in the coming months in order to hold off the challenge presented by the 28-year-old Slye, who connected on 79.2 percent of his field-goal tries with the Commanders last season.

Slye has agreed to a deal with the Patriots, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

After being released by the Jaguars earlier this week, it didn't take long for the 28-year-old to catch on with another team. With the Commanders last year, he made 19 of his 24 field-goal tries and 32 of his 35 extra-point attempts across 17 regular-season games. Now that he's with the Patriots, Slye will have an opportunity to compete with 2023 fourth-rounder Chad Ryland, who is coming off an inconsistent rookie campaign for New England.

The Jaguars released Slye on Tuesday.

Slye inked with Jacksonville as a free agent back in March, but he's now lost his spot on the roster to rookie sixth-round pick Cam Little. Meanwhile, Riley Patterson remains with the Jaguars as potential offseason competition for Little. Slye converted 19 of 24 field-goal tries and 32 of 35 extra-point attempts across 17 games with Washington last season.

Mevis is slated to sign with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Mevis made 24 of 30 field-goal attempts at Missouri last year, including a 61-yard conversion that set an SEC record. He'll now challenge Eddy Pineiro during offseason activities.

The Jaguars selected Little in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 212th overall.

Kickers are never easy to predict, but Little was a very good collegiate kicker at Arkansas, and if he performs at a similar level in the NFL then this should prove a useful enough selection for Jacksonville. Little never missed an extra point attempt in college and made four of five field goal attempts from 50 yards or more in 2023. He'll compete with Riley Patterson and Joey Slye for the Jacksonville kicking role in 2024.

The Rams selected Karty in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 209th overall.

Karty converted 23 of his 27 field-goal attempts with Stanford last season with only one miss coming from within 50 yards. The rookie is expected to compete with Tanner Brown and possibly another veteran for the team's starting kicker spot to begin 2024.

The Vikings selected Reichard in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 203rd overall.

Reichard is the NCAA's all-time leading points scorer (547). At Alabama, Reichard converted 274 of 275 extra points and had an 86 percent field goal success rate. Placekicking duties should be his in Minnesota.