The Commanders are looking to address their struggles at the kicker position by acquiring Cade York from the Browns.
The Washington Commanders have a lot of new faces on their roster heading into the 2024 campaign, and while everyone is probably excited about the additions of guys like Jayden Daniels and Austin Ekeler, they also have a new kicker. After seeing Joey Slye leave in free agency, Washington claimed Riley Patterson off of waivers back in July with the hope that he could come in and be their new kicker.
The problem is that Patterson has struggled throughout training camp, and it's not something that has been lost on Washington's front office. That prompted to go out and swing a trade with the Cleveland Browns for one of their kickers in Cade York, with the Commanders sending a conditional seventh-round pick the other way.
Via Albert Breer:
“Source: The Browns are trading K Cade York to the Commanders for a conditional seventh-rounder. So an early deal as trade market heats up with cutdown looming.”
Commanders looking for Cade York to push Riley Patterson
York was surprisingly selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he endured an ugly rookie campaign (24/32 FGM, 35/37 XPM). He lost the starting job to Dustin Hopkins ahead of the 2023 season, and while he remained with the team, it was clear again throughout training camp this year that the job still belonged to Hopkins, making York expendable.
The Commanders are hoping to tap into York's potential, as he clearly has some upside. He was one of the nation's best kickers during his time in college at LSU, which is why he got taken fairly early in the 2022 draft. And while he hasn't panned out to this point, he's still just 23 years old, so there's time for him to figure things out.
It seemed like York was set to compete with Patterson for the starting kicker job, but that ended up not being the case. That's because shortly after this trade was announced, the Commanders made a corresponding roster move that saw them release Patterson, so it looks like York is set to be Washington's starting kicker come Week 1 of the season.
Trade: The #Browns are trading K Cade York to the #Commanders for a conditional 7th-round pick, as @AlbertBreer said. Washington has had some struggles with their kicker spot throughout camp, and now get York from Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/FtrgGlTNqd
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 22, 2024
So in the blink of an eye, York went from being the Browns backup kicker to seemingly having the Commanders job all to himself. As a result, Washington's front office will surely be hoping he succeeds, because if he doesn't, they don't have too many options to replace him, which makes this a bit of a risky move by the team as the regular season draws near.
