New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore has announced that Charlie Smyth will serve as the team's starting kicker for Sunday's matchup against the Cleveland Browns at the Caesars Superdome. According to BBC Sport, the decision comes after the Saints terminated Daniel Carlson's contract on Tuesday following inconsistent performance throughout the early weeks of the season.
Smyth had been relegated to the practice squad after losing a kicking competition to Carlson during the preseason. The 25-year-old Northern Irish placekicker, who joined the Saints through the NFL's International Player Pathway program in 2024, will now return to the starting lineup after Carlson's disappointing tenure with the club.
Moore addressed the roster change at his Wednesday news briefing, acknowledging the difficulty of the decision while expressing confidence in Smyth's readiness.
"Charlie will kick this week,"Moore confirmed.
"[There have been] tough decisions. Daniel has made some really big kicks for us - it's just the consistency thing. I just felt this is the best decision for our football team going forward. These things are never easy, but Charlie has done this for us at the backend of last year, so he will be ready to go."
Why was Carlson replaced?
Carlson, a two-time All-Pro who spent five seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders before joining the Saints, struggled significantly during his tenure. The 31-year-old converted only 8 of 12 field goal attempts for a 66% success rate and made 16 of 18 extra point attempts. His most successful performance came in September when he made three kicks against the Baltimore Ravens, but inconsistency plagued the remainder of his stint with the struggling Saints, who currently hold a 2-7 record.
What is Smyth's track record?
Smyth made his historic NFL debut last November and demonstrated reliability as a starter during the latter part of the previous season. According to ESPN, across six games in 2025 Smyth converted 12 of 16 field goals, including 4 of 6 attempts from 50-plus yards with a long of 57 yards, accumulating 49 points. He was also perfect on extra point attempts, making all 13 of his kicks from that distance. The Mayobridge native had a mixed preseason performance, which led to his demotion to the practice squad when Carlson was selected as the starter following the competitive evaluation.
Moore praised Smyth's development while on the practice squad, emphasizing that players not appearing in games still maintain structured improvement plans.
"When guys aren't playing these games, not everyone gets to see all the work they do during the week,"Moore explained.
"They still have a plan. Charlie has a plan going into every week [for] how is he going to get better, similar to [quarterback] Tyler Shough when he was on practice squad. The guys who don't play on Sunday still have a plan to develop and get better, then opportunities like this present themselves and they are ready."
What happens next?
The Saints are scheduled to host the Browns on Sunday, November 8, at noon CST. With no additional kickers brought into the squad, Smyth will handle all placekicking duties for the team as they attempt to improve their record against a visiting Cleveland side.
