Saints: Brett Maher will serve as replacement kicker while Wil Lutz is out
The New Orleans Saints were dealt a deadly blow when it was announced that kicker Wil Lutz is going to miss some time in the 2021 season.
Lutz has been one of the best kickers in the league and is as clutch as they come, especially when it comes to the extra point attempts. The Saints are already in a position where they’re without their best receiver and now they won’t have their kicker to add an easy three points to the scoreboard.
With Lutz missing time, the Saints had to find a replacement kicker to fill in while he’s on the sidelines. They signed former Cowboys kicker, Brett Maher, to fill that void.
Saints are signing kicker Brett Maher after Monday’s auditions to fill in for injured Wil Lutz, per source. Maher spent two seasons as Cowboys’ kicker from 2018-19 and has been on practice squads/offseason rosters since then with Jets, WFT, Texans, Cardinals
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 9, 2021
Maher, who kicked at Nebraska, was the Cowboys’ kicker in 2018 and 2019 and was hit and miss. He had a decent season in 2018, posting a field goal percentage of 80.6, and missed just one extra-point attempt.
The 2019 season was a different story for Maher, however, as he struggled. By the season’s end, he had just a 66.7%, struggling to hit much from 30 yards out. He hit every single extra-point attempt that was asked of him but it was the long distances that held Maher back.
What this means for the Saints is that they might be forced to go for it on fourth down rather than attempt the field goal. Lutz didn’t put them in that spot often, as he was insanely good from long distances but the Saints won’t have that luxury with their temporary kicker.
Brett Maher is handling the kicking duties for the New Orleans Saints
Lutz is going to miss an extended period of time, which is unfortunate for a variety of reasons. Maher isn’t a bad kicker by any means but he’s not Lutz. It’s certainly reasonable to think that not having Lutz could cost the Saints a few games and this team needs all of the wins they can get with everything that’s stacked against them.
It’s been a dramatic few weeks for the Saints and not having Lutz is a tremendous blow for this team. Fans feel confident that whenever Lutz takes the field to attempt a field goal that three points are nearly certain but that won’t be the case with Maher.
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Hopefully, Maher improves from his lackluster 2019 campaign because the New Orleans Saints need all of the help they can get.