The New Orleans Saints' kicking game has been unsurprisingly inconsistent as the team tries to make ends meet without injured Wil Lutz.
But after a third consecutive miss and just one made field goal in the first four games, the team decided to move on from Aldrick Rosas, despite Lutz remaining on injured reserve as he recovers from offseason surgery.
Payton spelled out what the team is looking for at the position, and why that led the Saints to bring in veteran Cody Parkey in that spot ahead of Week 5.
"It’s kind of a result-oriented business," Payton said, "where you’re wanting to get to a certain percentage of made tries within a distance that you feel like you’re comfortable with relative to leg strength."
In fairness to Rosas, two of his three misses came from beyond 50 yards. His final kick was an attempt from 58 that Payton said after the game and with the benefit of hindsight that he should've called for a punt. The Giants used the field position gained from the missed kick for a 50-yard scoring strike to John Ross. But a miss from inside 40 and the decisions not to kick were more telling. The Saints went for it on 4th-and-medium earlier in the game rather than attempt a mid-range field goal.
Parkey becomes the third veteran signed by the Saints at placekicker since training camp. They'd initially signed former Cowboys kicker Brett Maher, but he was injured in the preseason opener against the Ravens and was ultimately cut, leading to Rosas' signing. Parkey had a workout with the Saints on Tuesday and signed a deal later that day.
"He’s been steady," Payton said. "His numbers have been good. You just go back through it relative to his consistency and his accuracy. ... He’s a veteran player. He’s a guy with, I think, poise. He’s tough, he’s mentally tough and we’re looking forward to having him."
Parkey has been well traveled since initially breaking into the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014, with the Saints representing his sixth different team. He's also kicked for the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans. Parkey made 19 of 22 kicks after rejoining the Browns last season, but spent the first month of the 2020 season without a role on an NFL roster.
Parkey has made 121 of 143 field goal attempts in his career, and has been accurate from long range despite not having a booming leg. He's only attempted 10 kicks from 50-plus in his career, but has knocked through 8 of them, the longest a 54-yarder.
