New Orleans Saints starter leaves no doubt about his job security with recent practice performance during minicamp

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Adam Holt | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 3:33 PM ET

Kicking field goals and extra points seems straightforward once you get to the professional level. For the New Orleans Saints, it may even be clearer for them than other NFL teams due to an abundance of riches at the kicker spot this season.

Blake Grupe impresses at minicamp practice

The starting kicker for the Saints was perfect at minicamp practice earlier this week. He showed off his long field goal-kicking ability but didn't overlook the shorter attempts, either. That's notable.

Blake Grupe starts off minicamp 6-for-6 with the longest from 61 (and it cleared by a decent margin). None of them really even flirted with missing. #Saints
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) June 10, 2025

Saints kicker Blake Grupe just finished off a perfect FG session with a 61 yarder
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) June 10, 2025

Grupe became a consistent force for the Saints during the latter half of last season. I'm interested to see if he can take another step this season.

Kicking in the NFL is one of the most unpredictable pieces of the puzzle, and knowing that Grupe has it handled would be a nice weight lifted off the shoulders of Kellen Moore and his special teams coaching staff.

Charlie Smyth continues to push

Smyth was a young boot that New Orleans brought in last year. While Grupe won the job, there was a quiet confidence about keeping Smyth in the building for New Orleans. They seem to have plenty of belief in him in the case of an injury for the starter.

Smyth has been impressive to begin practice outings in the kicking game as well. He has a huge leg, so longer field goals have actually not been a concern for the young boot.

Smyth was 5 for 6 on attempts during practice on Wednesday (including hitting on a 61-yarder), according to practice reports.

Charlie Smyth went 5-6 (miss from 49) and made 61 look like it was an extra point.

Justin Reid practiced as the emergency guy (1-2) then Davon Godchaux did … something.
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) June 11, 2025

Grupe seems to have this job on lock, following a solid season in 2024 where he got better as the season went along for New Orleans.

The being said, it will be intriguing to see how much patience the Saints have with him if he begins to struggle - since they could still have Smyth waiting in the wings.