We've seen enough from Daniel Carlson. The journeyman kicker was a late entry to the New Orleans Saints' training camp kicking competition, and he won the job -- but he's hardly done enough to keep it. Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers that proved pivotal in a game New Orleans lost 16-10. He's now missed six kicks in seven games, two of them being chip-shot extra point attempts.
That just isn't good enough. It's not like the Saints don't have other options. Charlie Smyth has been cooling his heels on the practice squad for seven weeks. Instead, special teams coordinator Phil Galiano has pointed to the kicks Carlson makes at practice and head coach Kellen Moore's hesitance to make changes has kept a bad
kicker in place. Carlson went into Week 7 ranked third-worst in field goal hit rate (70%) and fifth-worst in point after attempts (88.2%). He hasn't met expectations. The Saints should come out of the bye week with someone else handling that job. If they're confident Smyth can't hold it down (12 of 16 on field goals, perfect on 13 extra points last season), they should bring in a free agent like the recently-cut Riley Patterson, whose performance (7 of 9 on field goals, 5 of 6 on extra points) didn't meet the winless Miami Dolphins' standards. The Saints aren't in a position to be as picky as they'd like to be.
The count continues:
— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) October 25, 2026
Daniel Carlson has missed a field goal (all 50+) or extra point in six of his seven games with the #Saints so far this year..
Week 1: 62 yards
Week 2: No misses
Week 3: PAT
Week 4: 52 yards
Week 5: PAT
Week 6: 55 yards
Week 7: 52 yards https://t.co/RQSjQMSWcm
But it goes beyond the field goals. New Orleans is one of four teams to be penalized for a kickoff landing short of the landing zone multiple times. Their staff, including Galiano, played a key role in developing the rules that implemented a landing zone in the new kickoff format. It's inexcusable that they can't nail this down. As far as penalties go, the Saints went into Week 7 tied for the tenth-most penalties on special teams (8), with half of those fouls coming before the snap. Sunday's loss to the Steelers was cemented by an alignment penalty on the field goal block team, which gifted Pittsburgh a first down and the opportunity to kneel out the clock. They're an undisciplined team. Galiano was picked to run the kicking units because he assisted Darren Rizzi in that role for several years. Now that he's had his turn, it's clear he isn't cut out for it. Add that to the list of changes they must make during the bye week.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Daniel Carlson shouldn't remain Saints' kicker after the bye week
