Washington’s kicker carousel spun again on Thursday, when the Commanders traded a conditional seventh-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Cade York and released Riley Patterson.
York is the third kicker to get a shot at the primary place-kicking job with the Commanders since Brandon McManus was released in May. McManus was signed to replace Joey Slye, who left in free agency. But McManus was waived two months before training camp when a lawsuit alleging sexual assault on a team plane while he was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars came to light.
Patterson was 2-for-4 on field-goal tries in the preseason and had similar accuracy issues in practices. The Memphis product was competing with Ramiz Ahmed in camp. Washington let Ahmed go earlier in this month.
The Browns are set at the position with Dustin Hopkins, the primary kicker for Washington from 2015-21, and were likely to let York go or sign him to the practice squad.
A Browns’ fourth-round pick out LSU in 2022, York spent his rookie season in Cleveland and made 24 of 32 attempts highlighted by a 58-yard game-winner in his debut.
York, 23, did not kick in a regular-season game last year. He spent most of the 2023 season on the practice squads of the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans after the Browns acquired Hopkins from the Los Angeles Chargers.
–Field Level Media