Chargers coach Brandon Staley often mentioned Tristan Vizcaino’s high potential as a kicker because of his strong leg. But as the missed extra points stacked, Staley and the Chargers had to keep their options open.
When an experienced kicker became available, that option was more enticing than waiting for Vizcaino to overcome his growing pains and reach his potential.
The Chargers announced the signing of kicker Dustin Hopkins and waived Vizcaino on Tuesday.
Hopkins, 31, was released by Washington last week and left as the organization’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (84.0%) and made field goals of 50-plus yards (13). Hopkins was drafted in the sixth round by the Buffalo Bills in 2013, but didn’t kick in his first NFL game until he joined Washington in 2015.
The Chargers kept their options open at kicker. Vizcaino had a league-high five missed extra-point attempts. The Damien High graduate missed two extra points against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 and twice versus the Cleveland Browns in Week 5.
Hopkins has never missed more than three extra-point attempts in a season and has a career percentage of 94.2% (179-of-190). He’s made 163 career field goals out of 194 attempts.
“Something that I still believe in my heart is that this guy has real talent,” Staley said about Vizcaino on Monday. “And we’re just going to see where it goes. I think we’ve identified some factors that can help his game. At the same time, we’re going to make sure that we keep all of our options open at that position.”
Vizcaino, 25, won the Chargers’ kicker job over Michael Badgley in training camp. Finding a player to hold the kicker job has been a struggle for the Chargers for many years.
