It had to happen

In a way, I can't say "didn't see that coming." With one big whack, the Browns finally admitted making a mistake of monumental proportions on placekicker Cade York. 

After days and weeks of dodging questions and hemming and hawing on how safe the erratic York was with regard to being confident enough in his ability to kick a football through uprights from great distances to secure a place on the 53-man roster, the answer came silently and swiftly.

In a deal that was consummated Monday, but most likely initiated sometime Sunday, General Manager Andrew Berry sent a 2025 seventh-round draft choice to the Los Angeles Chargers for veteran kicker Dustin Hopkins and waived York after no longer believing in him.

As late as Sunday, head coach Kevin Stefanski danced and then danced some more when pestered by the media if York would be his kicker when the Browns open the regular season Sept. 10 at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. He never answered in the affirmative.

In spite of public verbal back-patting in an effort to assure York things would eventually work out, there obviously was enough concern in the last week or two that caused Berry and Stefanski to inch closer to making a move, one that needed to be made in the best interests of the franchise.

What almost surely pushed them over the edge was York's performances in the last two exhibition games, where it appeared his self-confidence looked shot. Failure to take a late lead against Philadelphia and outright failing to beat Kansas City had to be the last straw.

Earlier in the exhibition season, York twice had been given reprieves when penalties gave him a second chance. He still missed both. It was a sign at the time that apparently wasn't taken seriously by the front office before eventually taking on greater importance as the calendar crept closer to Sept. 10. 

Even though the results of these games were meaningless, this part of the season is a training ground to prepare teams for the regular-season grind. A dependable kicker is one of the main ingredients toward success. York was becoming the anthesis to that end, growing worse by the week.

The Browns play every AFC North team in the first four weeks of the season. Stefanski shouldn't have to worry about his unpredictable kicker during arguably the most important part of the schedule. That should be the least of his worries. He won't have that problem with the more reliable Hopkins.

The soon-to-be 33-year-old redhead was originally drafted by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 2013 draft and spent the first couple of seasons with the Bills and New Orleans, but never got into a game. He spent the next seven seasons kicking for Washington before moving on to the Chargers.

During his NFL career, the Florida State product has connected on 84.8% of his field-goal attempts and 94.9% of his extra-point tries. His reputation as one of the NFL's most consistent and accurate kickers precedes him.

The roster has been crafted to the point where everyone is all in. Strength abounds on both sides of the football. The goal of this team is not to just make the playoffs. Or win at least one post-season game. They want to play football in late January.

It has reached the point where the players no longer hope they can win. They no longer think they can win. They know they can win. They do not need distractions. York had become a distraction. Even though he was around for just one season, he had to go. 

It's been a brief but hard fall for York, who was drafted in the fourth round of last year's lottery after a heralded career at Louisiana State. He began his rookie season with eight field goals in a row before cooling off (only 16 of the last 24).

As it turned out, he reached the pinnacle of his brief career in Cleveland with a dramatic 58-yard game-winning field goal to knock off the Carolina Panthers in the season opener at home last season. Browns fans exulted. The missing piece of the puzzle had arrived. Until it hadn't. 

And just like that . . . gone.