Who Should I Start? Wil Lutz or Rodrigo Blankenship

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.

Monday, August 21, 6:14 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on Monday. Blankenship lost the kicking battle to Chase McLaughlin in training camp this summer and will now look to latch on with another team before the start of the 2023 regular season. The 26-year-old spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, going 4-for-5 on his field-goal tries and 4-for-5 on extra points in just three total games. As long as Tampa doesn't bring in more competition for McLaughlin to close out the preseason, he should enter Week 1 as the team's starting kicker. McLaughlin, 27, made 83.3 percent of his 36 field-goal attempts and made all 21 of his extra-point tries in 16 games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The kicking position in Tampa won't be as exciting in fantasy now that Tom Brady isn't running the offense in 2023.