The Los Angeles Chargers, insistent that they were confident in kicker Tristan Vizcaino despite his league-high five missed PATs this season, cut him on Tuesday and signed former Washington Football Team kicker Dustin Hopkins.
It's another chapter in the seemingly never-ending kicker saga the Chargers have been going through since Michael Badgley, the self proclaimed "money badger" who was 24 of 33 on field goal attempts last season, lost a competition with Vizcaino before the start of this season.
The Chargers had stuck by Vizcaino through his struggles with coach Brandon Staley trying to work through technical issues he believed were the problem.
Vizcaino was the first kicker since Minnesota's Fred Cox in 1974 to miss five extra point attempts in a team's first six games.
Hopkins was released by Washington earlier this month after kicking in 93 total games from 2015 to 2021. Originally a sixth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2013, he converted 12 of 14 attempts for Washington this season with one at 50-plus yards. He also converted 10 of his 12 extra point attempts. Hopkins has made 84% of his field-goal attempts during his career and was Washington's leader in field goal rate.
Hopkins will be the 11th kicker to suit up for Los Angeles since 2017 when it faces New England on Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
