The Browns had to make an adjustment at kicker when Cody Parkey suffered a quad injury during the preseason.
They already had Chase McLaughlin on the roster after claiming him off waivers in May. Then Cleveland released Parkey from injured reserve, meaning the kicker wouldn’t be back with the team this year. And even though Cleveland also added Chris Naggar to its practice squad last week, McLaughlin won the job heading into Sunday’s season opener against Kansas City.
“We’re going into Game One with Chase, for sure,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “It’s a competition at every position throughout the season but the plan was always to have two kickers on the roster.”
McLaughlin connected on seven of his nine field-goal and extra-point attempts during the preseason. He missed a 57-yard field goal and one extra point.
McLaughlin has bounced around the league since going undrafted in 2019, spending time with the Bills, Vikings, Chargers, 49ers, Colts, Vikings, Jaguars, and Jets. He’s kicked in games for five of those teams, hitting 22 of 28 field goals and 31 of 32 extra points.
Naggar went undrafted this year and spent time with the Jets during the preseason.
