Who Should I Start? Wil Lutz or Charlie Smyth

Wednesday, February 5, 12:22 PM

The Athletic's Nick Kosmider writes that it's probably a no-brainer decision for the Denver Broncos to bring back veteran kicker Wil Lutz in 2025 despite the fact that he has no guaranteed money left on his current deal. If the Broncos wanted to, they could cut Lutz this offseason for a savings of at least $3 million with limited dead money left behind. Lutz is scheduled to make $3.89 million in 2025, but after being one of the most accurate and trustworthy kickers in the NFL this past season, it would be a surprise if the Broncos cut him. Not only does head coach Sean Payton have plenty of trust and history with Lutz, but Lutz also kicked for the New Orleans Saints under Darren Rizzi, who is likely to become Denver's next special teams coordinator. The 30-year-old finished as the No. 7 kicker in overall fantasy points by making 31 of his 34 field goal-attempts and all 46 of his extra points in 17 regular-season games.

Sunday, August 25, 6:35 PM

New Orleans Saints kicker Charlie Smyth (groin) didn't suit up during Sunday's preseason contest against the Tennessee Titans. The rookie kicker has been dealing with an ongoing groin issue since Friday. Head coach Dennis Allen said that the team wanted to play it safe and hold Smyth out of this game. In his absence, Blake Grupe handled the kicking duties during the preseason finale. He connected on both his field goal attempts and made all three of his extra point attempts as well. It remains to be seen which kicker the team decides to ride with into the regular season. Grupe is probably the favorite after making 30-of-37 field goal attempts and all 40 extra point attempts during his rookie season with the Saints in 2023.