Quietly, the N allocated some of their offseason resources toward addressing a third phase that had grown stagnant in recent years — special teams.
The first came in free agency, when the Saints signed former Minnesota Vikings (and Tulane Green Wave) — hopefully putting a stopper into the creaky revolving door at the position they created when they cut Thomas Morstead five years earlier.
Then, on Day 3 of the draft, New Orleans used a sixth-round pick on . That may not sound like much, until one remembers New Orleans has found its last two All-Pro returners in the undrafted ranks.
And, finally, the Saints waited until one of the final days of their offseason program to add kicker Tanner Brown — who was named the United Football League’s 2026 Special Teams Player of the Year — to compete with incumbent Charlie Smyth.
The investment was necessary. Last season, New Orleans ranked dead last in both field goal percentage (71.1%) and gross (43.3 yards) and net punting average (36.1).
Depth chart (name, height, weight, experience)
K
Charlie Smyth, 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, 2 years
Tanner Brown, 6-0, 177, 1
P
LS
RS
Barion Brown, 5-11, 177, R
Ty Chandler, 5-11, 205, 5
Number to know: -63.3
That is the cumulative Expected Points Added (EPA) contributed by the Saints special teams units in 2025. Take note of the minus sign in front of that number. It was the worst figure in the NFL last season by a significant margin. The difference between the Saints and the second-worst team, the Arizona Cardinals (minus-44.2), is about the difference between the Cardinals and the eighth-worst team.
It was an all-around poor performance. The field goal unit struggled throughout the course of the season (though things were better after Smyth took over). The punting unit routinely underperformed and also allowed two kicks to be blocked. The Saints’ best overall performance came from their punt returners, who finished 19th in average yards per return.
The lowdown
At bare minimum, the Saints should be a competent team when their punting unit jogs onto the field.
While New Orleans was struggling last season, Wright was enjoying one of the best years of his career. He finished 2025 ranked No. 3 in the NFL in net punting average (44.5, more than eight yards better than the Saints’ total), No. 7 in average hang time (4.49 seconds) and No. 4 in touchback percentage (4.6%). He also had the longest punt in the NFL last season, a 77-yarder against the Cleveland Browns in London that traveled 63 yards in the air before rolling to the 2-yard line, where it was downed.
Even if Wright doesn’t maintain that standard, he’s a safe bet to be better than what the Saints have trotted out since letting go of Morstead.
Since the start of the 2021 season, 168 punters have recorded at least 20 punts in a season. The four players who have punted for the Saints in that span achieved the following ranks in gross punting average: 65 (Blake Gillikin), 109 (Gillikin), 138 (Kai Kroeger), 152 (Matthew Hayball) and 162 (Lou Hedley). In other words, three of the five are in the bottom 20th percentile.
The return game had been steady for a long time in New Orleans, whether it was Deonte Harty or Rashid Shaheed back to strike fear into opposing specialists. But the Saints had a need after trading Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks last offseason, and Brown should be the first to get a shot at filling it.
Brown was an exceptional college football return man, setting the Southeastern Conference record for career kick-return touchdowns (six) during his time at Kentucky and LSU. It will be interesting to see if Brown gets a shot to return punts in the pros — in college, he returned only 11 punts in his career.
If Brown is unable to duplicate his success in the NFL, the Saints could lean on free agent signee Ty Chandler, who has a 25.7-yard career kick return average in the NFL (albeit in a limited sample size).
As for kicker, well …
Camp battle to watch: Kicker
Smyth waited a long time to earn his place on an NFL active roster, spending about 18 months on the practice squad after signing from Ireland via the International Player Pathway. And while he wasn’t perfect in his debut season — he drilled a game-winner in the closing seconds against Carolina and hit from 57 yards out, but he also missed four of his 11 field goal attempts beyond 40 yards — he showed more than enough potential to merit a longer look.
It’s just a question of how long that look will be.
New Orleans has actively pursued competition for Smyth this offseason. It signed (and subsequently released) former Texas kicker Mason Shipley after the draft and also worked out former Pro Bowler Younghoe Koo. But the most daunting challenge may come from Brown.
Some have compared Brown to Dallas Cowboys All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey, not only because of where they came from (Aubrey found immediate success after playing in the USFL; Brown is trying to make a similar leap from the UFL), but because of their powerful kicking legs.
While Smyth has shown more than enough leg in practice settings, hitting some that look like they’d be good from 70 yards, Brown has proven it in a game setting. He connected on a pair of 60-plus-yard field goals in one UFL playoff game last year, following up a regular season in which he successfully converted 29 of his 32 kicks.