Kicker Dustin Hopkins was cut by the Saints just before the season opener. A tryout, and then a contract, with the Redskins have given him another opportunity.
About a week before the NFL opened its season, Dustin Hopkins was resigned to sitting around his home, sullenly packing up his belongings and helping his wife, Gabrielle, move them into a New Orleans storage unit. After what he thought was a successful preseason with the Saints, the team informed him that he had lost the starting kicking job to Zach Hocker.
Hopkins remained determined to land on a team, and continued to train a couple blocks from where he was staying at a park, an “intramural baseball field,” he said, kicking towards some light posts that resembled the Arena League’s dimensions and stature.