Falcons Cut Younghoe Koo, Name Parker Romo Starting Kicker

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons have named Parker Romo the team’s starting kicker for its Week 3 matchup with the Carolina Panthers and signed him to the active roster. In a corresponding move, they released veteran Younghoe Koo.

The Falcons initially signed Romo to the team’s practice squad after veteran Younghoe Koo missed a game-tying 44-yard field goal in the waning moments of their Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers.

That week’s kicking competition ended with Koo on the inactive list and Romo the starter. The Peachtree City native delivered in his Falcons debut, hitting all five of his kicks in Sunday’s 22-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings, including one from 54 yards. He accounted for 16 total points in the win.

After the strong performance, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was noncommittal on the future of Romo.

“There is about a 90% chance that [Parker] Romo is our kicker for next week,” he said Monday. “There's no doubt about that. I wouldn't even sit here and act like it's an open competition because the guy just went five-for-five. You want to see it again. You want to see it in a different atmosphere. You want to go see those things, and he did a heck of a job, and I want him to go out there and do it again, and let's go see it. We'll make some decisions on those things as the week goes. It could be this week, it could be next, it could be whatever. But we'll make those decisions as we kind of have to go.”

On Friday, Morris removed all doubt, naming Romo the starter for this week.

"We're going to go with Romo," Morris said. "He earned it last week going 5-for-5, and you gotta go with that again."

In an announcement on Friday afternoon from the team, the Falcons signed Romo to their 53-man roster and released Koo.

"It's special," Romo, a Georgia native, said this week. "It's super special for me to be able to put on for the city of Atlanta because I spent 17 years of my life in Georgia."

Koo had been with the Falcons since 2019, and had been one of the league's most consistent kickers. That changed in 2024, when he converted just 25 of his 34 kicks (73.5%). That success rate was the lowest of his career.

He was later placed on injured reserve, but the issue flared up again in Week 1 with the miss at the buzzer and another wobbly kick that banged off the upright and in.

The Falcons will take on $1.25 million in dead money, but save $4.25 million towards the salary cap, per OverTheCap.