New Broncos K Wil Lutz Reveals Why he Feared Sean Payton

Since Sean Payton arrived as head coach of the Denver Broncos, he's made several eyebrow-raising decisions at kicker. Super Bowl 50 hero Brandon McManus was jettisoned, and the Broncos signed a pair of sketchy kickers to compete for the job.

Elliott Fry didn't last until the second preseason game, while Brett Maher's Broncos debut in preseason Game 1 was alarming. Maher's play stabilized in the aftermath of Fry's release, but Payton still wasn't secure with the Broncos' kicker situation.

Enter Wil Lutz, whom the Broncos acquired via trade from the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday. Lutz goes way back with Payton, and in a sit-down with 9NEWS' Mike Klis, he dished on the reasons he was keen to be dealt to Denver.

“Look, coach, he tries to get the best out of everyone,’’ Lutz said via Klis. “I truly feel like my best years were with him because I was kind of scared to let him down. I think that’s how a leader is.’’

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Lutz went undrafted out of Georgia State in 2016, signing with the Saints. He spent the last seven years in New Orleans, making 165-of-195 field-goal attempts (84.6%) and 286-of-293 extra-point tries (97.6%). His career-long field goal is 60 yards, which he set last year.

From 2017-19, Lutz was a near-dominant kicker. He was very reliable. In 2018, he nailed 93.3% of his field-goal attempts and 96.7% of his extra points. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2019.

So why did the Saints trade him? Lutz dealt with a core muscle injury that cost him all of 2021, which was Payton's final year in New Orleans. Lutz returned to the Saints roster last year and posted his career-worst season, connecting on just 74.2% of his field-goal tries, though he kicked 100% on extra points.

For what it's worth, McManus was only three percentage points better than Lutz in what was Lutz's worst season as a pro returning from injury.

The Saints were concerned enough to bring in competition this summer. And while reports conflict on which kicker truly won the competition, the Saints went with Blake Grupe instead of Lutz, making the veteran expendable and available to the predations of Payton's Broncos.

“Felt like I had a great camp, but when you don’t play and then you have a down year you put the decision in someone else’s hands,’’ Lutz said via Klis. “And that’s the worst thing about this industry is you want to be able to control your own destiny. When you have a down year that’s how it works. So put the decision in their hands. It didn’t go my way. But I get a fresh start. There’s a silver lining to everything and I’m super excited to be here. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t one of the spots I was hoping I’d land.’’

Payton seems excited to have a kicker in Denver that he trusts and shares some history with.

“I think he will fit in fine," Payton said of Lutz on Tuesday. "At the beginning of the whole process, he was a target for us. We knew they had two players. Meanwhile, our guy was doing well. I was there through the whole beginning with Wil. [Then] he went through a core muscle injury, much like what [CB] Riley [Moss] is going through right now. Obviously, his numbers dropped off a little bit. He had a really good training camp for them. We have seen all of his kicks and we got pretty good information on how his practices went. A lot of it was a young player who we think is extremely talented. This is a place where kickers want to be with the altitude and the conditions. We’re excited about that.”

The 29-year-old Lutz joins punter Riley Dixon and long-snapper Mitchell Fraboni as the Broncos' specialists.

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