Saints kicker woes continue with Wil Lutz now out for the season

The New Orleans Saints won’t be getting their Pro Bowl kicker back anytime soon. On Tuesday, Wil Lutz announced that he had suffered a setback in his recovery and would miss the remainder of the 2021 season.

Lutz has been sidelined since August after undergoing core muscle surgery to repair a groin injury that had bothered him since last season.

The Saints placed Lutz on the injured reserve to start the season with the hope that he would be able to return at some point during the year. He was eligible to return from the IR last Monday, but was not activated and did not participate in practice.

Now, we have a clearer picture of why that might have been. Lutz’s statement expressing his disappointment can be seen below.

The Saints will be without Wil Lutz for the entire 2021 season

Lutz has been the definition of reliable, consistent, and clutch during his five-year stint with the Saints. A Pro Bowler in 2019, Lutz has connected on 86.6 percent of field-goal attempts and 97.3 percent of extra points.

And with Lutz out, the Saints have struggled to find a suitable replacement for their ever-trusted kicker.

The likes of Brett Maher, Aldrick Rosas, and Cody Parkey have come and gone leaving a trail of missed kicks behind them. The Saints’ latest Lutz replacement, however, Brian Johnson, is off to a good start.

The rookie kicker connected on both of his field-goal attempts and his only extra point in Monday night’s 13-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Now, the kicks were from just 20 and 33 yards out so it’s not as if he was trusted with any difficult attempts, but his 33-yarder did come with under two minutes to go and proved to be the game-winner.

The Saints will be hoping to see Johnson continue that success and carry it over for the remainder of the season. If not, they might just hit the open market in search of another temporary stop-gap.

Wil Lutz’s absence has been and will continue to be felt.