Here's something to note before we get all wrapped up in analyzing New Orleans Saints draft picks. The NFL granted a roster exemption for kicker Charlie Smyth, per Wednesday's update to the daily transactions wire. Smyth hails from Newry, Ireland and first joined the Saints last offseason as part of the league's International Pathway Program. The Saints previously had filled 71 of their 90 offseason roster spots, so this opens up a place for another player on the offseason depth chart.
Smyth, 23, made the most of his opportunities in the 2024 preseason. He booted an exhibition game-winning field goal against the Arizona Cardinals and consistently nailed kicks from 60-plus yards in practice. Now he'll have a chance to build on that experience and really push third-year pro Blake Grupe for the starting job in 2025. He signed a two-year contract extension back in January, their first 2025 free agent to do so.
He needs all the experience he can get. Smyth first kicked an American football in Aug. 2023, so for him to make this much progress so quickly says a lot. Finding out just how high his ceiling may be is going to be a fascinating subplot at Saints training camp this summer. Displacing Grupe won't be easy. Grupe went 27-of-31 on field goals in 2024, a big improvement over his 2023 performance (30-of-37), though he did miss two extra point tries after going 40-for-40 as a rookie. Maybe the promotion of special teams assistant Phil Galiano to Darren Rizzi's old spot helps change Smyth's case.
