Chargers sign former Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Los Angeles Chargers signed kicker Dustin Hopkins and waived Tristan Vizcaino on Tuesday, the team announced. Hopkins was released by the Washington Football Team last week following six and a half seasons in D.C.
Vizcaino won the Chargers’ starting kicker job over Mike Badgley in training camp after making his NFL debut in 2020, but he struggled with five missed extra points in Los Angeles’s first six games. Coming off their bye week, the Chargers will now turn to Hopkins, who’s hit 85.7% of field goals and 10-of-12 extra points this season.
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Washington cut Hopkins ahead of its Week 7 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Hopkins was a candidate to be released in training camp coming off a down year in 2020 until he appeared to return to form once the regular season began. Even though he had a disaster of a performance in Week 4 with two missed extra points, it still came as a surprise when Washington released him two weeks later.
Starting in Hopkins’s place Sunday was Chris Blewitt, who was elevated from the practice squad to make his first career start. Blewitt hit his lone extra point try and went 1-for-2 on field goal attempts, both of which were for more than 40 yards.
