The New Orleans Saints planned to have two familiar names in the building this week for workouts as they continue to evaluate the kicker position.
That pair of kickers includes former LSU standout Cade York and former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker. The workout will be the first for Tucker since being reinstated from a 10-game suspension due to sexual misconduct allegations involving massage therapists. Tucker denied the allegations but did not appeal the league's discipline.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore said the team would be doing its due diligence regarding the suspension prior to making any decisions.
“He’s been a really good kicker in this league for a really long time. He’s had a ton of success," Moore said. "He’s been a leader for Baltimore for a long time as their team, he’s been one of their leaders for an extended period of time with a very successful team and so obviously there’s been some stuff that’s been unfortunate. He’s going through an experience and I think it’s about collecting what that experience was and we’ll evaluate the football aspect of it and we’ll evaluate everything else as well.”
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Tucker, 36, was released by the Ravens in May after 13 seasons and coming off a year when he made 22 of 30 kicks, the eight misses marking a career high. Despite the down year, Tucker has made more than 85% of his 468 attempts, including a 66-yard kick in 2021 that stood as the NFL record until it was surpassed by Jacksonville's Cam Little earlier this season.
York, who kicked for LSU's national championship team in 2019, was a 4th round pick of the Browns in 2020 but only lasted one season, making 24-32 kicks with a long of 58. York returned to the NFL last season for six games, playing one week for the Commanders and five for the Bengals. He missed both kicks attempted with Washington but went 9-for-11 with Cincinnati.
The workouts, which will be held Tuesday, come after another pair of misses by kicker Blake Grupe, continuing a harsh trend of the season. Grupe has now missed eight kicks on the year, a new career high, five of which have been inside of 50 yards. The team conducts workouts throughout the season to assess positions and potential options, but this week marks the first that kickers were brought in to compete.
The two misses against the Falcons were from 38 and 47 and cost the Saints crucial opportunities to keep pace in a game that ultimately finished in a 24-10 loss that dropped the Saints to 2-9 on the year.
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Moore also confirmed that international pathway player Charlie Smyth would also be in consideration off the practice squad, though the team is yet to make a decision on whether they'll be making a change at kicker as they head to Miami for their Week 13 matchup. Grupe has been the team's kicker for the past three seasons after supplanting kicker Wil Lutz in a competition. He struggled at points as a rookie, but made 27 of 31 kicks in 2024, including 6-of-8 from 50-plus, the most such makes by a Saints kicker in team history.
"Blake is a good kicker in this league. It’s unfortunate," Moore said. "We’ve missed a few lately. He’s had some really good moments. He’s missed a few and we’ll just evaluate all of it, including as he goes through this experience and we’ll evaluate as we go the next couple days.”