NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints have decided to let Charlie Smyth, a former Gaelic football player from Northern Ireland, take over place kicking and kickoff duties on Sunday in Miami, when he will make his NFL regular-season debut.

Smyth, who came to the Saints in 2024 as part of the NFL’s International Pathways Program, replaces Blake Grupe, who was cut on Tuesday after his two missed field goal attempts last Sunday raised his total of misses to eight.

Saints special teams coordinator Phil Galiano said Smyth's improvement in kicking an NFL ball since his arrival two offseasons ago is akin to “the difference between red and blue.”

“Never doing it in high school and never doing it in college is really a big deal,” Galiano said.

The 24-year-old Smyth kicked in the preseason in 2024

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