Browns Trade Once Highly Touted Specialist to NFC East for Draft Pick

The Cleveland Browns proved on Thursday, August 22, that the second time around with a player isn’t always a charm.

Cleveland dealt kicker Cade York, a former fourth-round pick of the team in the 2022 NFL draft, to the Washington Commanders of the NFC East Division for a late-round pick.

“Source: The Browns are trading K Cade York to the Commanders for a conditional seventh-rounder,” Albert Breer of MMQB reported via X on Thursday morning. “So an early deal as trade market heats up with cutdown looming.”

Cleveland made York the first (and only) placekicker selected in his draft class by taking him out of LSU with the No. 124 overall pick. The Browns initially signed him to a four-year rookie contract worth nearly $4.4 million.

However, York lasted in Cleveland for just one year before the franchise moved on the first time.

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Cade York Loses Starting Job With Browns to Dustin Hopkins for Second Consecutive Season

York’s most recent run with the Browns was his second in the three years, and he lost the top spot on the roster to Dustin Hopkins for the second season in a row.

York hit just 24-of-32 field goal attempts (75%) and connected on 35-of-37 extra point tries during his rookie campaign, per Pro Football Reference. The Browns flipped a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers for Hopkins in late August 2023, which paid off in a big way for Cleveland and left York seeking new employment.

Hopkins drilled 33-of-36 field goal attempts for the Browns last season, including several game-winners, as the team went on to an 11-6 record and a Wildcard Playoff berth. Meanwhile, York caught on with the Tennessee Titans on the last day of August 2023.

The New York Giants signed York off of the Titans’ practice squad in early November and carried him as their second kicker until sending York to the injured reserve list (IR) last December. York caught on with the Browns for a second time in March 2024 and tried to win his job back from Hopkins, but to no avail.

Just 23 years old, York will now again try to cultivate a permanent home in the NFC East, only this time with the Commanders instead of the Giants.

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Browns Still Have Battles Playing Out on Special Teams Among Kick Returners

While Cleveland has sorted out its placekicking battle, the jobs of kick and punt returner remain open contests with roughly a week and a half remaining before final roster cuts.

As of Thursday, the Browns listed third-string running back Pierre Strong Jr. as the starting kick returner and third-string wide receiver James Proche II as the top punt returner.

Jaelon Darden is currently slotted in as a second-string receiver, but could lose that job to Proche if the latter holds onto the punt returning duties and the Browns decide to keep just six wideouts on the active roster.

Meanwhile, Jerome Ford is the backup kickoff returner and is likely to start the season as the first-string running back as Nick Chubb continues to rehabilitate from the knee injury he suffered in Week 2 of the 2023 campaign.

C0-fifth-string RB Nyheim Hines was the third-string kickoff and punt returner as of Thursday.

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