Wil Lutz Signs New 5-Year Contract with Saints, Was Restricted Free Agent

Kicker Wil Lutz has signed a five-year contract to remain with the New Orleans Saints.

He announced the deal Wednesday on Twitter:

Lutz, who was a restricted free agent, has been one of the NFL's most accurate and consistent kickers since joining the Saints as an undrafted rookie out of Georgia State in 2016.

The 24-year-old has converted 87.0 percent of his field-goal attempts and 96.7 percent of his extra-point tries. He is the fourth-most accurate kicker of all time in terms of field goals.

Lutz has scored 130 or more points in each of his three NFL seasons, but the 2018 campaign was arguably his best to date. He made a career-best 93.3 percent of his field goals (28-of-30) and 98.1 percent of his extra points (52-of-53) for 136 points.

He also made all four of his extra points and went 5-of-6 on field goals during the Saints' playoff run.

On a conference call to announce his signing, Lutz showed gratitude toward the Saints, saying, "This is the team that took a shot in the dark on me from the start." He added: "If you do what you're asked to do, this is what it leads to. ... It's extremely gratifying, and it's an amazing opportunity for me."

Lutz was a little-known commodity when the Baltimore Ravens released him prior to the 2016 season, but Saints head coach Sean Payton brought him in and chose him over veteran Kai Forbath.

The move has paid big dividends for the Saints. With a high-powered offense led by quarterback Drew Brees, running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Michael Thomas, Lutz should get plenty of opportunities to rack up points in 2019 and beyond.