Wil Lutz will not return from the injured reserve list this season after all. On Tuesday, the Saints kicker announced that he has suffered a setback in his recovery that will shut him down for the rest of 2021.
“2021 has been filled with adversity, personally, but with adversity comes an exciting challenge,” Lutz wrote. “Unfortunately I had a setback during the rehab process that has forced me to shift my focus to being 100 percent healthy for the long term and shut it down for the season. I want nothing more than to be out there with my teammates helping us win games, and I look forward to doing that when healthy! Thank you to the best fan base in the country for the support and well wishes, we’ll be back stronger than ever.”
Lutz has served as New Orleans’ primary kicker since 2016. All in all, he’s made 86.6% of his field goal tries across his five-year career, positioning him as one of the best kickers in the game. He’s also made 253 out of 260 extra point attempts in the elongated XP era.
The Saints first turned to Aldrick Rosas in Lutz's absence, who went 1-4 on field goal tries. He was later replaced by Cody Parkey, who missed two extra point tries. That led them to undrafted rookie kicker Brian Johnson, who joined the team two weeks ago and just hit both of his FG tries, including the game-winner with under two minutes to go, in Monday's win over the Seahawks.
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