Dustin Hopkins reportedly to re-sign with the Washington Football Team

On the eve of free agency, the Washington Football Team reportedly agreed to bring one of their own back to the team in 2021.

That would be kicker Dustin Hopkins.

As reported by NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay, Washington is expected to “bring back” Hopkins.

Financial details of the deal weren’t immediately made clear, but the career 84-percent kicker will don the Burgundy and Gold once again.

Bringing back Dustin Hopkins is a good move for the Washington Football Team.

While Hopkins is coming off the least accurate season of his career with seven missed field goals, he still made 79.4 percent of his kicks. He has also fixed his accuracy issues from 50+ yards as well. He has made a respectable 4-of-7 kicks from that range in the last two years after going 5-of-13 from that distance to start his career.

Need additional proof that Hopkins is improving his leg strength? He tied a career-high with 65 touchbacks on kickoffs last year and his touchback percentage of 83.3 percent was a career-best as well. And overall, Washington’s touchback percentage of 80.7 on kickoffs was the third-best mark in the NFL.

Hopkins is a steady kicker. You can’t ask for much more at the position, and the risk of finding a new, better kicker isn’t one that many teams choose to make once they find a consistent player.

Of course, Washington will have to make sure they avoid overpaying for Hopkins. But considering that he had previously played on a deal worth roughly $2.5 million annually, it doesn’t seem likely that the team will give him a hefty raise, especially during an offseason where many teams are lacking cap space and don’t have money to spend.

Ahead of free agency, Washington has done a solid job of retaining some of their own talent, including Brandon Scherff and now, Hopkins. We’ll see if that trend continues with some of their other top free agents including starting cornerback Ronald Darby.