Cleveland Browns are not looking to make a change at kicker

The Cleveland Browns brought in four kickers for workouts during Wednesday’s practice.

During last year’s training camp, the specialists were one of the biggest stories at Cleveland Browns camp. The Browns held competitions at both kicker and punter, and it was rookies who won both jobs, with Austin Seibert taking over at kicker and Jamie Gillan winning the punter competition.

Gillan quickly emerged as a threat as the punter, helping the Browns flip field position over and over again during the 2019 season. Seibert had an up-and-down season, but he seemed to improve at the end of the season.

Because of their performances during their rookie seasons, the Browns decided to not bring in any competition for either Gillan or Seibert during this year’s training camp.

That may have changed on Wednesday, however, as the Browns brought in a group of four free agent kickers for workouts during practice: Nick Folk, Kai Forbath, Matthew McCrane and Cody Parkey.

All four of the kickers the Browns brought in have struggled to hold a job in the NFL, with Forbath having the best history recently. Since 2018, Forbath has made 15 of 16 field goal attempts and 14 of 15 extra points, but has been with three teams in that time span.

Despite the Browns bringing in a large group of kickers, it does not mean the Browns are going to make a change in kicker. Instead, it looks like more of the opposite and the Browns are attempting to give Seibert a day off.

Without any other competition entering training camp, Seibert has taken every kick of camp. Typically teams will have a second kicker in camp to help split time, but the Browns have decided to use the roster spot elsewhere.

Since there is no other kicker in camp, the Browns will need to find a way to give Seibert a day off, and it seems like Cleveland found a way to do so. By bringing in four kickers for a workout, the Browns were able to go through their specialists period on Wednesday without having to use Seibert’s leg.

Seibert has performed well during camp and has only missed a few kicks. The Browns may decide to sign one of the four kickers brought in on Wednesday, but Seibert’s job will not be threatened. Instead, the Browns appear to be saving Seibert as much as they can before the regular season starts by having another kicker come in to take some kicks of Seibert’s leg.