Fans of the Washington Football Team have wanted competition for kicker Dustin Hopkins for several years now. Now, they get their wish, sort of, as Washington signed kicker Eddy Pineiro to the practice squad on Friday.
Pineiro replaces running back Peyton Barber, who was signed off Washington’s practice squad earlier on Friday by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Pineiro, 25, entered the NFL in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Florida. Pineiro spent the 2019 season with the Chicago Bears, where he made 23 of 28 field goals. He was 27 of 29 on his point-after-attempts.
Pineiro was on injured reserve for the entire 2020 season and signed with the Indianapolis Colts in the spring and was released last month after failing to win the job.
Washington coach Ron Rivera has been strong in his defense of Hopkins. I wouldn’t expect that to change anytime soon. However, Washington now has another option if Hopkins struggles early in the season.