The New Orleans Saints are down to 39 days before their regular season opener, and the kicker wearing No. 39 is Charlie Smyth, a player whose route to the NFL still feels unlike anyone else’s on the roster.
Smyth is entering his third training camp with New Orleans and will again be in the mix for the kicking job. The Saints open the 2026 season on the road against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13.
A 25-year-old from Mayobridge, Newry, Ireland, Smyth stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds. He played at St.
Marys University College in Belfast and was brought in through the NFL International Pathway Program in 2024. He carries a 2026 salary cap hit of $1.01 million and has two years of NFL experience.
His road to New Orleans started far from the NFL. Smyth grew up playing Gaelic football and began at age 4.
He developed into a goalkeeper on the Ulster Under-20 championship squad and picked up multiple national honors along the way. When he pursued an NFL opportunity in 2024, he connected on 20 of 26 field goal attempts across the Scouting Combine and his Pro Day, including one from beyond 60 yards.
That was enough for the Saints to sign him, making Smyth the first Gaelic Athletic Association player to join an NFL team.
He did not win the active roster spot out of his first training camp with the Saints, but New Orleans kept him on the practice squad. Smyth spent most of his second year there as well before being re-signed to a reserve/future deal at the end of the season. He entered 2025 camp in another battle with Blake Grupe, and while the competition was close, the Saints kept Grupe and sent Smyth back to the practice squad.
That changed when Grupe struggled badly through the first 11 games of last season. New Orleans eventually moved on and turned to Smyth, and he made the most of the opening.
Over the final six games, he hit 12 of 16 field goal attempts and made all 13 extra points. He also drilled a 47-yard game-winner against the Carolina Panthers on the final play and went 4 of 6 on field goal tries from beyond 50 yards.
Smyth is not running unopposed this summer. The Saints added Tanner Brown, the UFL Special Teams Player of the Year, to push him for the job.
Brown has shown tremendous long-range accuracy, and that is an area where Smyth has also proven himself. The competition should stretch through camp, but Smyth has already shown he can handle NFL pressure when the moment gets tight.
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