The Saints Held A Training Camp Kicker Competition...And Then Cut Both Players And Signed An Undrafted Rookie 5 Days Before The Season

Saints going with rookie PK Wil Lutz?
2-3 PS
(12-19 last yr, 31-46 career GaSt)
Not Ross Martin 4-6 PS
(26-30 last yr, 78-93 career Duke)

— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) September 6, 2016

#Saints change kickers before Week 1, sign undrafted rookie Wil Lutz. Also swap CB Finnegan for Sterling Moore https://t.co/NDGOzqhLS3

— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) September 6, 2016

Sean Payton said #Saints didnt go into workout with Wil Lutz planning to replace K Kai Forbath. But said might be best K workout he ever saw

— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) September 7, 2016

I gotta say, nothing calms the game week jitters quite like a never-ending kicker carousel. Consistency at the most important position on special teams? Easily the most overrated concept short of offensive line chemistry. Hell, if you go by that logic we might be on the cusp of an undefeated season. Who cares about the results of the offseason long place kicker battle that pitted two veterans against each other? Wil Lutz just strolled in off the street and basically had the best tryout of all time, how could you not hand him the job 5 days before his first meaningful NFL experience? Sample size be damned. If there's anything I have learned about Saints' kickers over the years it's that the next one is always the best one. Fuck the backup quarterback, the most popular player in New Orleans is undoubtedly the unsigned kicker. What better previously unsigned kicker than the one with a resume that includes moderately impressive improvements throughout college football hotbeds like Georgia State and Duke? No chance the bright lights of a jam packed SuperDome are too much for him. Especially not when Sean Payton has proven he's nothing if not patient with the 25 different kickers he has had on his roster since 2006. 


P.S. A 'Will' with only one 'L' would usually concern me, but it's just weird enough for a guy that plays a position that requires you to be just a little bit "different".


P.P.S.

#Saints and G Jahri Evans agreed to a 1-year deal, source said.

— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) September 7, 2016