The New Orleans Saints have moved on from Daniel Carlson after a brief, uneven run that did little to solve their kicking problems.
Carlson was released Tuesday, ending a seven-game stint that never really settled the position. The veteran kicker missed four of his 12 field goal tries, and every one of those misses came from 50 yards or longer.
He also pushed two extra points wide. Through eight weeks, the Saints were tied with three other teams for the worst field goal percentage in the NFL, and only former Los Angeles Rams kicker Harrison Mevis had a worse mark than Carlson over that span.
The Rams cut Mevis on Oct. 13.
New Orleans brought Carlson in shortly before the final preseason game, hoping the former All-Pro could bring some stability to a spot that had been shaky in recent years. Instead, the move never caught on. Carlson had already been coming off a down season with the Las Vegas Raiders, and with the Saints he missed at least one kick or extra point in six of the seven games he played.
Earlier this week, coach Kellen Moore said the team would not add another kicker to compete with Carlson. The Saints already have Charlie Smyth on the practice squad, and he showed some promise last season when he handled place-kicking duties over the final six games.
Smyth had battled free agent Tanner Brown during training camp, but the Saints weren’t comfortable with his consistency in practice heading into the regular season. Special-teams coordinator Phil Galiano said earlier this year that most of Smyth’s misses came from the left hash and were likely technical in nature.
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