K Wil Lutz traded to the Broncos for a 2024 7th round pick (1 Viewer)

[Gumbo's Dad]

so you wanted to keep 2 kickers on the active roster or you preferred him over Groupe?

Him over Grupe. Apparently this was a cost cutting move that could come back to bite them. It could cost them games if the kid chokes under pressure. Sean Payton is no idiot. Lutz is the more dependable option. But like Roby, they are into cost cutting. We will see how that turns out.

 

[Gumbo's Dad]

There were 3 kicker trade in the last 2 days :

Lutz to Broncos for 2024 7th round pick
Hopkins to Browns for 2025 7th round pick
Folk to Titans for 2025 7th round pick

2022 :

	FG Attempts	FG Made	Long	%	XP Attempts	XP Made	%
Lutz	31	23	60	74.20%	33	33	100.00%
Hopkins	10	9	43	90.00%	12	12	100.00%
Folk	37	32	54	86.50%	35	32	91.40%

Seems we did pretty good value wise for the trade no?

No. Respectfully disagree. Hope this does not come back to bite us and cost us close games.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

Him over Grupe. Apparently this was a cost cutting move that could come back to bite them. It could cost them games if the kid chokes under pressure. Sean Payton is no idiot. Lutz is the more dependable option. But like Roby, they are into cost cutting. We will see how that turns out.

I don't think it was a cost cutting move, its pennies compared to what we already have available in Salary Cap, we have $14M, a few hundered thousand isn't gonna make or brake us. If Lutz had a good season last year, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Fact is, after the injury he regressed. If we had kept Lutz and he has a simiar season as last year, and Grupe goes to Denver and shines, then you probaly would be one to say ' DA made the wong move'.
And saying SP is no idiot, i mean, we had our share of woes at Kicker while he was here, do you disagree with that?
If Lutz doesn't have a really good seaon in Denver, Broncos fans will ask why he didn't keep McManus after last year.

 

[sfidc3]

If Lutz could still be relied on to be a clutch kicker, he'd still be a Saint. I wish him well and I hope he gets back to that level of performance. He was a tremendous player for the team through 2019, and by all accounts, is a terrific person who loves the city and organization.

The Saints weren't good enough last season and the kicking game was a part of that.

We will see what happens but to me this is a foolish move.....Lutz had very quietly been one of the best over the last 5 years.....

2016 - 82.4%
2017 - 86.1
2018 - 93.3
2019 - 88.9
2020 - 82.1
2021 - DNP (injury)
2022 - 74.2

I think it is pretty obvious he wasn't completely healthy and was still recovering in 2022 and I feel he will be very good in Denver, but we will see....I just don't think folks realize how good he was for us....

 

[DavidM]

We will see what happens but to me this is a foolish move.....Lutz had very quietly been one of the best over the last 5 years.....

2016 - 82.4%
2017 - 86.1
2018 - 93.3
2019 - 88.9
2020 - 82.1
2021 - DNP (injury)
2022 - 74.2

I think it is pretty obvious he wasn't completely healthy and was still recovering in 2022 and I feel he will be very good in Denver, but we will see....I just don't think folks realize how good he was for us....

Lutz was ranked about 19th among kickers with 20 or more attempts in 2020. That's not among the best. He certainly was one of the best between 2017-2019, but has been on a downward trend since, and had the lost season because of injury. Really appreciate what he did here, but I think the problem is that over the last three seasons, he wasn't the same kicker he was at his peak.

There was the option to give him another season to see if he could rebound but last season wasn't good. We parted ways with Hartley after he had a 73% season and he never really got his career back on track.

I like Lutz and hope his troubles are behind him, but I'm not going to fault the team for addressing areas that weren't good enough last year. I think they've done a good of doing just that and now we have to see if works out.

 

[sfidc3]

Lutz was ranked about 19th among kickers with 20 or more attempts in 2020. That's not among the best. He certainly was one of the best between 2017-2019, but has been on a downward trend since, and had the lost season because of injury. Really appreciate what he did here, but I think the problem is that over the last three seasons, he wasn't the same kicker he was at his peak.

There was the option to give him another season to see if he could rebound but last season wasn't good. We parted ways with Hartley after he had a 73% season and he never really got his career back on track.

I like Lutz and hope his troubles are behind him, but I'm not going to fault the team for addressing areas that weren't good enough last year. I think they've done a good of doing just that and now we have to see if works out.

If he were in his mid 30s I would agree but he is only 29.....my feeling is that if he can stay healthy he will bounce back.....but we will see....

To me it's a huge risk to take on a unexperienced kicker.....

 

[lilvipa221]

It is going to be so annoying this season to see all these threads second guessing DA every time Lutz makes a field goal or when Grupe misses one.

Thats how it should be. They have to be judged this season together.

If Lutz outkicks Grupe then the front office should be criticized and fans absolutely have the right to attack them. If they both perform well and kick in the mid 80s percentage wise and make their extra points, it was a good move by the front office. If Grupe outkicks Lutz then the front office should be praised.

It's just an odd move at this point in a win now scenario to take this big of a risk on a young guy when Lutz has had 5 great years out of 6.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Bill touched on some good points. Lutz was inconsistent with his lift on his kicks. Before home games I watch the kickers warm up and most other kickers get better and quicker lift on their kicks than Lutz. Now the lower trajectory aids Lutz in long attempts, but he couldn't consistently pick the ball up on shorter attempts. And then there's the bending factor that many kickers have that also worries me. I have very mixed feelings about this move, but this thread reminded me of why I couldn't relax when Lutz kicked.

One of the things I've always appreciated with Morten Andersen was when he kicked you knew immediately if it would be good or not. The ball stayed on a straight line unless influence by wind. Grupe's kicking style reminds me of that.

I'm a fan of Lutz and I think he will return to form and wish him the best. I appreciate his time here. But, I'm not going to look back to judge if this was a bad decision or not. We are rolling with a very promising rookie, just like we did with Lutz.

 

[meily]

Thats how it should be. They have to be judged this season together.

If Lutz outkicks Grupe then the front office should be criticized and fans absolutely have the right to attack them. If they both perform well and kick in the mid 80s percentage wise and make their extra points, it was a good move by the front office. If Grupe outkicks Lutz then the front office should be praised.

It's just an odd move at this point in a win now scenario to take this big of a risk on a young guy when Lutz has had 5 great years out of 6.

Lutz is no longer a Saints player and we all saw how he kicked the last few seasons, why are people surprised by this move?

 

[Rouxble]

I don't think it was a cost cutting move, its pennies compared to what we already have available in Salary Cap, we have $14M, a few hundered thousand isn't gonna make or brake us. I

Looks like our current space is $10m after accounting for the practice squad, and we will probably need most of that money to pay IR replacement players if history is any guide. Cap considerations likely played a part for both Roby and Lutz.

 

[big screen D]

Bill touched on some good points. Lutz was inconsistent with his lift on his kicks. Before home games I watch the kickers warm up and most other kickers get better and quicker lift on their kicks than Lutz. Now the lower trajectory aids Lutz in long attempts, but he couldn't consistently pick the ball up on shorter attempts. And then there's the bending factor that many kickers have that also worries me. I have very mixed feelings about this move, but this thread reminded me of why I couldn't relax when Lutz kicked.

One of the things I've always appreciated with Morten Andersen was when he kicked you knew immediately if it would be good or not. The ball stayed on a straight line unless influence by wind. Grupe's kicking style reminds me of that.

I'm a fan of Lutz and I think he will return to form and wish him the best. I appreciate his time here. But, I'm not going to look back to judge if this was a bad decision or not. We are rolling with a very promising rookie, just like we did with Lutz.

"I couldn't relax when Lutz kicked."

This! I swear, the vast majority of the kicks he made were just inside the uprights and never above the goalpost post no matter how short of a kick.

 

[dpwga]

The more I hear both Lutz and his agent speak... I'm glad he's gone. Doesn't sound he bought into the post-Payton regime.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

Looks like our current space is $10m after accounting for the practice squad, and we will probably need most of that money to pay IR replacement players if history is any guide. Cap considerations likely played a part for both Roby and Lutz.

i don't think the practice squad players count toward the cap.

 

[Cougar 2]

Lutz is no longer a Saints player and we all saw how he kicked the last few seasons, why are people surprised by this move?

Yep. At times, even his “makes” started gettin a lil shaky: They were either low or barely got thru the uprights after “tailing” right or left.

According to STs Coach Darren Rizzi, Grupe got the job because of 1) The enormous power he generates from his leg “backswing” n 2) Because he’s shorter, his big swing is also more “compact”. So as a result, his kicks are consistently higher coming off his foot AND sent splitting the uprights!

No idea how well Grupe will play this year, hell he might end up a bust! But Ima give props to DA for at least trying to upgrade ANY position on da team whenever possible!

 

[UFCSaint]

Did Grupe ever have to kick into the wind in preseason? Did we even play outside in preseason?

Didn't he kick at Notre Dame...