Tag: Wil Lutz

Jameis Winston, Andrus Peat among potential Saints cap cuts in 2023 offseason

Jameis Winston and Andrus Peat are among the top potential Saints salary cap cut candidates during the 2023 offseason:

No team has more work to do in managing their salary cap commitments than the New Orleans Saints this offseason — depending on where you source your information, they’re in the red by margins of between $53 and $57 million. That means some talent is going to be leaving in the spring as the Saints look to cut costs, get younger, and frankly get more bang for their buck.

We’ve already listed the team’s biggest salary cap hits for 2023. Here are five areas where the Saints could free up some resources and look for upgrades:

What went right, what went wrong for the Saints in 2022

There’s plenty to criticize about a 7-10 football team, but it wasn’t all bad. Recapping what went right, what went wrong for the Saints in 2022:

There’s plenty to criticize about a 7-10 football team, but it wasn’t all bad for the New Orleans Saints. They exited the 2022 season with plenty to think about, work with, and maybe put behind them as the calendar turns towards 2023.

From lowlights like Andy Dalton and Dennis Allen’s performance on top of the program to a surprisingly-fraught special teams unit to bright up-and-comers in Chris Olave, Juwan Johnson, and Rashid Shaheed, there’s plenty to discuss. And that doesn’t even get into the front office decisions that put this team together.

So let’s break it down. We’re recapping what went right and what went wrong for the Saints in 2022:

6 young players the Saints need to evaluate in the final leg of their season

These final games are just as much about competing each week as evaluating young players with the future in mind. Here are 6 Saints to watch closely down the stretch:

These five final games are just as much about competing each week as evaluating young players with the future in mind. Odds aren’t in the New Orleans Saints’ favor when it comes to the playoffs; with little to work with in the way of salary cap resources and draft picks, it’s even more important than usual that they better identify what they have out of players already under contract moving forwards.

So with that said, here are six young pros we’ll be watching closely as the Saints close out their season:

Wil Lutz misses from 61 on double-doink as time expires

Wil Lutz came close but double-doinked and the Vikings downed the Saints

Wil Lutz had kicked a 60-yard field goal in the final two minutes Sunday to give the Saints a tie with the Minnesota Vikings … temporarily.

Greg Joseph then delivered a field goal with 24 seconds left to give the Vikings the lead.

There was time for Lutz to force overtime … but this time he had to attempt from 61.

Doink off upright, doink off the crossbar.

Oh, the pain … no good and the Vikings escape London with a 28-25 victory over the Saints.

Another angle:

 

Wil Lutz of Saints nails 60-yard field goal against Vikings

Wil Lutz was good from 60 yards for the Saints in London

In a land of remarkable kicks, Wil Lutz added a different one to the history books.

The New Orleans Saints’ kicker took aim at a 60-yard field goal with less than two minutes to go in the game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in London.

And he was spot on, nailing the kick from 60 to put the Saints into a 25-25 tie as time wound down.

Pete Werner rises higher in our Saints player power rankings for Week 4

Pete Werner rises higher in our Saints player power rankings for Week 4, Wil Lutz and Jameis Winston take a tumble:

Our latest New Orleans Saints player power rankings are out ahead of Week 4’s kickoff with the Minnesota Vikings, and while there’s been some movement at the top most of the changes are in the middle of the squad.

This week’s biggest risers are running back Alvin Kamara (+8) and wide receiver Chris Olave (+5), with tight end Taysom Hill (+5) positioned to benefit from some other players slipping down the ranking while he was inactive with an injury. A couple of notable fallers helped his case in kicker Wil Lutz (-8), quarterback Jameis Winston (-8), and tight end Juwan Johnson (-5), and defensive tackle David Onyemata (-2).

The only player to not return from last week’s top 25 is safety P.J. Williams, whose missed tackle allowed a 67-yard Laviska Shenault touchdown reception. He was replaced by cornerback Bradley Roby, who returned to the list after missing the cut the last two weeks. Let’s run through the full list:

Week 1 game balls from Saints’ dramatic season-opening win vs. Falcons

Handing out our Week 1 game balls from the Saints’ dramatic season-opening win against the Falcons, via @RossJacksonNOLA, @MaddyHudak_94, @DillySanders, and @john_siglerr:

Several New Orleans Saints players deserve a lot of props for how they performed in the team’s season-opening road win over the Atlanta Falcons, both for consistently helping throughout the game and for rallying to make a stand in its biggest moments. Let’s hand out our Week 1 game balls for top performers:

Saints outdid themselves vs. Falcons in franchise-record fourth quarter comeback

The Saints outdid themselves against the Falcons on Sunday. The 16-point deficit they overcame in the fourth quarter is a new franchise record:

Bang: the New Orleans Saints set a new franchise record in Sunday’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, the team announced. They overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to leave town with a 27-26 victory. That’s bigger than the historic 15-point deficit that the Saints erased a few years back, upsetting Washington in 2017’s thrilling home game.

So of course it had to happen against the team’s biggest rivals, adding a little insult to injury. The Falcons were in prime position to win this game after going up 26-10. They even had a nice shot when they were up 26-24 with just 1:40 remaining in regulation, having forced the Saints to burn all of their timeouts and set up shop on the edge of field goal range.

Then Marcus Mariota fumbled the snap in the biggest moment of the game, mishandling the ball on 3rd and 1 to lose a critical down. Faced with the prospect of a 4th and 1 situation in New Orleans territory with the game on the line, Falcons coach Arthur Smith opted to run out more clock and punt it away, trusting his defense to handle their business with the Saints in the game’s final minute.

Bad call. Jameis Winston flipped the field with a 40-yard pass to Jarvis Landry, then eased into field goal range with a 17-yard link to Juwan Johnson. Sure, it could have been better executed. A botched spike drew a flag from the officiating crew, and Wil Lutz’s game-winning field goal sailed through the uprights with 19 seconds left on the clock.

The Falcons had another shot at winning the day, taking over at their own 25-yard line with all three of their timeouts, but they needed a bogus personal foul penalty on Marshon Lattimore to get close enough for Younghoe Koo to try a game-winning field goal of his own.

But the Saints came through on special teams to seal the deal. Defensive end Payton Turner got a hand on the ball to send it back where it came from, with linebacker Zack Baun and safety J.T. Gray splitting a tackle for emphasis. It was as electric a game we’ve seen from New Orleans. But as Saints coach Dennis Allen noted postgame, let’s hope they all aren’t quite so volatile.

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Wil Lutz improves to 49-of-51 on field goal tries in Saints training camp

Pro Bowl kicker Wil Lutz improved to 49-of-51 on field goal tries at Saints training camp, after setting a new career-long in the last preseason game:

Is it safe to say he’s back? Maybe. Wil Lutz has been sensational at New Orleans Saints training camp, connecting on 49 of his 51 kicks since July. He closed out Wednesday’s practice session with two successful field goals in two-minute team drills, nailing both of his tries from 51 and 38 yards.

This follows last week’s preseason game, in which Lutz set a new career-long field goal of 59 yards — he’s missed from that distance before, but his previous personal-best in preseason, regular season, and playoff games was 58 yards. After missing 11 months with a core muscle injury, reparative surgery, and the subsequent rehab, he’s again looking like a Pro Bowler.

“I feel like I’ve had my best camp here in seven years,” Lutz told Nola.com’s Rod Walker.

Getting Lutz back to this level is huge. The Saints lost games last year due to missed kicks (for example, two botched extra-point tries sailed away from the uprights in a 23-21 road loss to the Tennessee Titans, and a missed field goal against the New York Giants set up a touchdown pass from midfield in that 27-21 upset). New Orleans’ kickers scored a combined 106 points in 2021. Lutz averaged 136 points a year from 2016 to 2020. That 30-point swing should make for a massive difference.

Still, we’ve got to see it to believe it. Encouraging as Lutz’s summer has gone so far, everyone can rest a little easier if he plays well in the season opener with Atlanta.

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Watch: Wil Lutz boots a career-long 59-yard field goal

The Saints’ Pro Bowl kicker is looking like himself again. Wil Lutz nailed a career-long 59-yard field goal in Friday’s preseason game at Lambeau Field:

Whew: Wil Lutz reintroduced himself with a bang in Friday night’s game with the Green Bay Packers, nailing a field goal from 59 yards out at Lambeau Field. It’s a new career-long for the Pro Bowl kicker — Lutz has attempted kicks from this distance before, sending a 59-yard try wide right of the goalpost back in 2017’s preseason game with the Baltimore Ravens, but this is the first time he’s done it successfully during a game. His previous personal-best was from 58 yards.

That’s impressive to see after he missed the last 11 months recovering from sports hernia surgery, and it’s a very encouraging sign for both Lutz and the Saints. The team struggled to survive without him last season, running through a full carousel’s worth of kickers, so it’s great to see one of the game’s top kickers returning to form.

This was also a savvy moment for Dennis Allen. He hustled to call a timeout before the quarter expired, ensuring Lutz would attempt the long-distance kick with the wind at his back rather than in his face. It’s a small moment, but that’s a good sign for Allen’s situational awareness. The whole drive was sparked and closed out by stellar special teams efforts from New Orleans, with wide receiver Kirk Merritt setting up the offense with an impressive 59-yard kick return of his own.

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