The Washington Commanders released longtime kicker Dustin Hopkins on Oct. 20 last season. Hopkins, who had been Washington’s kicker since Sept. 2015, struggled with consistency, and head coach Ron Rivera felt it was time for a change.
That led the Commanders to Chris Blewitt, which was an epic mistake. Blewitt made only two of his five field-goal attempts, as all three misses were blocked.
Fortunately for Washington, Robbie Gould of the San Francisco 49ers returned from an injury on Nov. 2, and the Niners released his temporary replacement, Joey Slye. The Commanders released Blewitt and signed Slye.
Slye was outstanding but suffered a hamstring injury in a Week 12 win over the Seattle Seahawks and missed several weeks. He returned late in the season and picked up where he left off. Overall, Slye made all 12 of his field-goal attempts, including one from 56 yards out, in six games for Washington.
Slye connected on nine of his 10 point-after attempts as his only miss was blocked.
The Commanders placed a tender for 2022 on the restricted free agent last month. On Monday, Washington rewarded Slye with a two-year deal worth $5 million, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Originally an undrafted free agent from Virginia Tech in 2018, Slye has kicked for the Giants, Panthers, Texans and 49ers, enjoying success at each stop, but mainly as an injury fill-in. Now, Washington views Slye as the guy moving forward.
The #Commanders and K Joey Slye agreed to terms on a 2-year deal worth up to nearly $5M with $2M in guarantees, source said. One of the top kickers, Slye made 92% of his kicks last year & excelled on kickoffs. Now locked in on a deal done by Glenn Schwartzman of @ManagementShark.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 11, 2022