Broncos lose kicker Wil Lutz to Jaguars
Mar 11, 2024, 12:31 PM | Updated: 3:21 pm
(Update 3:21 p.m.) –
Wil Lutz has had a change of heart, and will instead stay with the Broncos on a two-year deal. You can read about that here.
*** The original story remains below ***
Wil Lutz became one of the most reliable components of the Broncos last year after arriving in a roster-deadline trade.
He put a stop to three months of questions that lingered after the team released Brandon McManus in May. And after an opening game in which he missed an extra-point and a long field-goal try in a one-point loss, he settled in as one of the league’s best kickers — just as he had been for most of his time with the New Orleans Saints.
And now … he’s gone.
The Broncos lost Wil Lutz on Monday, as the 9-year veteran kicker agreed to terms with Jacksonville.
In a burst of dramatic irony, Lutz will replace McManus, who struggled at times in his only season with the Jaguars. Lutz, meanwhile, was better across the board than the kicker he succeeded in Denver, to the point where he earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors for a stellar November.
And now, the Broncos are looking for a kicker again. And Sean Payton loses the kicker who settled the position for him for six seasons in New Orleans after cycling through a procession of kickers in his first 10 years as Saints head coach.
WHAT COULD COME NEXT AFTER WIL LUTZ LEAVES THE BRONCOS
First of all, don’t expect the Broncos to replace Wil Lutz by bringing back back McManus. Let’s start there.
Among the available unrestricted free agents are Nick Folk, Joey Slye, Randy Bullock and Greg Joseph. Bullock had a tryout with the Broncos last offseason.
With new kickoff rules rumored for the NFL, the Broncos may place less of a priority on leg strength and more on placement and accuracy. To that end, Folk might make sense. He led the NFL in field-goal success rate last year, hitting 96.7 percent of his attempts, the most for any kicker with more than five field-goal attempts last year.
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