Wil Lutz was ‘surprised’ by deal, wants to retire a Bronco

Wil Lutz will be the Denver Broncos’ kicker for a while longer, signing a three-year deal with the team last week, which keeps him in Colorado through 2028. Lutz, who has been a key part of this year’s success, was thankful and even surprised by his new deal.

“I was a little surprised,” he shared on Monday. “I think every player, no one is not aware that they’re a free agent at the end of the year. It’s obviously always something you think about, but at the end of the day, once the season starts, it’s out of your control, and you have to perform.”

“There was a good open line of communication with [General Manager] George [Paton] and [Vice President of Football Administration] Rich [Hurtado] upstairs in training camp, just, ‘Hey, I want to be here. I want to finish my career here.’ Hopefully, it is more than just this contract. I think it was mutual,” Lutz said. “The whole process was fairly easy. We were all on the same page about where I stand in this building and that I want to be a part of this going forward. When it came to it, and like I said, it was a little bit of a surprise. I thought everybody was kind of enjoying their Bye Week.”

“I was on the golf course, and everything kind of came together pretty quickly,” he said. “And it was between my agent, John Perla, Rich, and George and those guys who hung around. It was as smooth as it could go. We’re grateful for this opportunity and for them to put faith in me at this point in the year, when we still have a lot of football left, which means a lot. But at the end of the day, nothing changes. We’re still trying to move this thing forward and win football games.”

Lutz has been named both AFC Special Teams Player of the Month and multiple weekly honors in recent times. He’s well on his way to another pro bowl, with his 17 of 20 mark on field goals while nailing all 24 extra points this season. Of Lutz’s three misses, one was blocked — by Houston’s Denico Autry — and another was a 59-yard miss during the windswept 10-7 win over Las Vegas on Nov. 6.

Aside from the 2021 season, which Lutz missed due to a core-muscle injury, the Georgia Southern product is the only full-time placekicker Payton has had since the start of the 2016 regular season. And that came after Payton cycled through 10 kickers in his first nine campaigns as New Orleans Saints head coach.

Lutz joined Payton in 2016 after losing a training-camp duel in Baltimore with Justin Tucker. He quickly proved he had the accuracy — and the mental mettle — to succeed as a long-term answer as kicker where others had fallen short under Payton’s watch.

“The cool part of anyone who’s been here the last few years is just seeing, but also feeling the change that’s kind of going through this building over the past couple of years,” Lutz said “I think that started with the new ownership. Mr. and Mrs. Penner have been great. The word ‘no’ really isn’t in their vocabulary for their players, and I think you can tell by the vibes in the building. You look at that new building every day that you’re out there at practice, and you feel the change that’s happening, kind of getting back to the history of the Broncos and the winning ways that we’ve always had.”

“I have a great relationship with Coach Payton, and then obviously being able to get to know our upstairs over the last couple of years with doing a couple extensions with them now, this is the place you want to be,” Lutz said. “My family, it’s just been such a welcome change for us over the last three years. We’re just really excited to be a part of the future here, not just going to practice every day staring at that building, hoping that I get to be a part of it. It was never really a weight on my shoulders, but it’s taken care of and we get to focus on winning football.”

Lutz’s hits this season have been clutch, too — winning several games for the Broncos right at or before the buzzer.

“You look at our offense and they’re finding ways to win games and they’re experiencing how to do that. With our defense, they’re doing the same thing. We’ve been able to do it as a special teams unit lately,” Lutz said. “All we can do is keep our heads down and keep collecting that, those experiences, and using those to our advantage moving forward.”

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