The New Orleans Saints appeared to have ended their kicker competition by adding a decorated veteran. New Orleans signed Daniel Carlson, as reported Monday morning by NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport. The 31-year-old should be considered a presumptive favorite to win the job over Tanner Brown and Charlie Smyth.
A fifth-round pick in 2018, Carlson played just two games with the Minnesota Vikings before going to the Oakland Raiders. He played 127 games over eight seasons, converting 87.8% of his field goals and 95.7% of his extra points. Carlson earned second-team All-Pro honors when making an NFL-leading 40 field goals in 2021.
He bumped up to a first-team All-Pro nod the next year, nailing 11 kicks from 50 yards or more. The NFL's bottom-ranked offense didn't give Carlson many scoring opportunities last season, and he posted his lowest success rate since 2019 when making 22 of 27 field goals (81.5%). Carlson's misses included a blocked 54-yard try in the closing minutes of a 25-24 loss to the Chicago Bears and a potential game-tying 48-yarder late in a Week 8 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Yet Carlson concluded his Raiders tenure on a high note, converting a career-high 60-yard field goal in the closing seconds of Week 18's 14-12 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. He made a 55-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter. The Saints will hope Carlson stabilizes their kicker situation after Smyth and Blake Grupe missed a dozen combined field goals last season.
Smyth missed an attempt in their first preseason game, but Brown couldn't capitalize and jump ahead in the competition when he missed a 39-yard try in Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
