Kicker Cade York returns to Browns on futures deal
The Browns can’t quite give up on Cade York.
York has re-signed with the Browns, a league source has confirmed for the Beacon Journal. Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot was the first to report.
The deal is a futures one for York, whom the Browns selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of LSU. After an inconsistent preseason last year, they cut him after acquiring Dustin Hopkins from the Los Angeles Chargers in late August.
York, 23, spent last season on the practice squads for the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants. A quad injury in December landed him on the Giants’ injury list.
Hopkins will be entering the final year of his contract this season. He lost a training-camp battle a year ago with Cameron Dicker, which led to him being available for the Browns to acquire by trade.
By signing York to the futures deal, it at least opens the door to the possibility the Browns could be setting up an offseason kicking battle between the two.
As a rookie with the Browns, York was 24 of 36 on field goals and 35 of 37 on PATs. He famously opened his career with a go-ahead 58-yard field goal in the season opener at the Carolina Panthers.
York was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, the first rookie to ever win the award in Week 1. However, he foreshadowed his own future struggles when he spoke after receiving the award.
“I mean, it’s something that developed and someone always gives advice on,” York said, “because as far as everything you’re doing lately, lately I had a good game, but next week’s a new game. Cleveland could hate me after next game, so it doesn’t really mean anything.
“So, you kind of gotta stay pretty even-keeled, because if you’re a roller-coaster, there’s ups, but there’s also downs.”
Although York did have a couple of major misses — two potential go-ahead field goals in a Week 5 loss to the Chargers top the list — the Browns maintained optimism going into last training camp in him. York, though, made just 4 of 8 preseason field goals.
The biggest criticism came when he went 0 of 2 when it came to making kicks in crucial late-game moments. It was the same questions that existed from the previous season.
There was a miss on a 41-yard try to break a tie score with two minutes left in the third preseason game against the Eagles, and that try was only set up because his miss from 47 yards was negated by a Philadelphia penalty. The next week, York had a 43-yard go-ahead attempt blocked with 57 seconds remaining in a loss at the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Pity pisses me off,” York said after the game. “I want to be a weapon. I know how good I am. That’s been the most frustrating thing the last month, struggling with that. So, the real games starts soon. Just trying to take a running start into the season and just start putting them through all the time.”
Two days after that preseason finale, the Browns acquired Hopkins from the Chargers for a 2025 seventh-round pick. The veteran proved to be one of the team’s most reliable players until what turned into a season-ending hamstring injury on Christmas Eve. He finished the season 33 of 36 on field goals, including a franchise-record 8 of 8 from 50-plus yards.