The Saints have made the kind of move that usually tells you two things at once: they are tired of the uncertainty, and they believe there is a better answer sitting right in front of them. On Monday, Aug. 24, New Orleans was reported to be signing former Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, and that is not the sort of addition you make if you are content to keep looking at the alternatives.
It also says plenty about where the preseason competition had reached. The Saints had been deciding between Charlie Smyth and Tanner Brown, which is fine in August when teams are sorting through possibilities and trying to avoid false certainty. But once a two-time All-Pro becomes available, the mood changes quickly. Suddenly this is no longer about who might grow into the job. It is about who can actually settle it.
Why this move matters
Carlson is not being added as a curiosity or a camp body. He is a proven NFL kicker, and the numbers tell the story clearly enough. After being drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 2018, he was cut by the Vikings after missing three field-goal attempts in a game. That is the kind of moment that can wreck a player’s reputation if he never recovers. Carlson did recover, and then some. He landed with the Raiders and later tied for the NFL scoring lead in 2020-21.
That is the real point here. The Saints are not taking a swing on upside alone. They are bringing in a player who has already shown he can handle the league, handle pressure, and produce at a high level. He played collegiately at Auburn from 2013-17, but the important part of this story is what happened after the early setback. Plenty of kickers survive. Much fewer become two-time All-Pros.
For New Orleans, this is a practical football decision, not a glamorous one. Kicking is often treated like a detail until it starts costing games, and then everyone suddenly remembers how unforgiving the position is. If the Saints were genuinely happy with the competition between Smyth and Brown, they would not be making this kind of move now. Carlson changes the equation completely.
FOX 8 Live WVUE put it simply enough: “A new kicker in New Orleans.” Sometimes that is all a storyline needs. The Saints wanted clarity, and they appear to have found it in a player whose career already includes both a harsh early lesson and a very strong answer to it.
Now the pressure shifts. New Orleans is no longer asking whether one of its preseason options can win the job. It is asking whether Daniel Carlson can give them the stability that has clearly been missing from the conversation. That is a far better problem to have.
