The Saints released veteran kicker Daniel Carlson on Tuesday. Coach Kellen Moore confirmed Wednesday that Charlie Smyth will kick for them this week.
Smyth is on the team’s practice squad.
“Yeah, Charlie will kick this week,” Moore said, via video from the team. “Tough decisions. Daniel, he’s made some really good kicks for us. I think just the consistency thing. Just felt like this was the best thing for our football team moving forward. These things are never easy, but Charlie’s done this for us back in the last year, so he’ll be ready to go.”
In his first season with New Orleans, Carlson made just 8-of-12 field goals in seven games. All four misses came on attempts of at least 50 yards. He missed a 52-yard attempt during the fourth quarter of the Saints’ Week 7 loss to the Steelers in Paris.
Smyth, a native of Northern Ireland, went 12-of-16 on field goals in six games for the Saints in 2025.
Saints Clips
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is in the concussion protocol after self-reporting symptoms on Tuesday.
Head coach Todd Monken told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that Watson hasn’t necessarily been ruled out for Sunday’s game against New Orleans. But the club is preparing Shedeur Sanders to start.
“What I would say is, credit to Deshaun — after the game, [he] felt fine. Monday night, started feeling a little bit, little bit of a headache, and came in Tuesday and, you know, reported,” Monken said, via transcript from the team. “So, credit to him for someone who really loves playing the game. And so, he is in the protocol. And Shedeur will take the reps today with the ones.”
Monken admitted that it’s “a little more difficult” for a quarterback to play on Sunday after missing practice due to a concussion. But Monken and the team will let the process play out.
“I mean, there’s a long time between now and then, right? I mean, look where the Ravens are at. And you don’t know as the week goes on what could happen,” Monken said. “It’s not ideal, right? It’s not ideal for any player to go through a week and not practice and then play. We know that. But every situation is different.”
Monken noted that Watson can participate in the team’s meetings to help him stay prepared in the event that he gets cleared. The team has been game-planning with the idea that Sanders will start. But Monken said the game plan won’t change much if it’s Sanders or Watson behind center.
“I don’t see the way [it would change], because the rest of the guys are the same, and they’re similar in some ways,” Monken said. “Some things, you know, Shedeur’s skill set is different than Deshaun’s, but still very similar in terms of what we do. We can’t change that dramatically.”
Either way, Watson is expected to still be the starter when he is cleared.
“Yeah, I didn’t assume I’d get that question. Yeah, he’s been our starter for eight games. I would assume he’s still our starter,” Monken said. “I don’t — I’m thinking about Wednesday. But I’m not — I’m really thinking about today and watching Shedeur play today.”
So far this season, Watson has completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 1,806 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s been sacked a league-high 33 times. His eight games this season are the most he’s played in a year for the Browns since arriving on the club in 2022.
Last season, Sanders completed 56.6 percent of his throws for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games with seven starts.
The Browns haven’t officially named Shedeur Sanders this week’s starter, but with Deshaun Watson in the concussion protocol, all signs are pointing in that direction.
Those signs include Browns wide receiver KC Concepcion saying today that the offense is rallying around Sanders to get him ready to play against the Saints.
“It was unfortunate what happened to Deshaun, but we’re going to pick up Shedeur’s confidence, and get him ready for Sunday,” Concepcion said.
Sanders lost a quarterback competition with Watson during the preseason, and Watson has played better than expected during the regular season. So Sanders has barely played this year, getting on the field just long enough to throw three passes. But on Sunday, he may start.
Last year Sanders started seven games as a rookie and struggled, but this year he’ll get to show what kind of progress he’s made. The Browns, who have playoff aspirations, have to hope he’s ready.
There is some positive news on the injury front for the Saints as they return from their bye week.
Rookie receiver Jordyn Tyson is set to return to practice on Wednesday, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football.
Tyson has been sidelined by a hamstring injury since training camp. He was placed on injured reserve with a designation to return when rosters were reduced to 53 players.
The Saints will have 21 days to activate Tyson to the 53-man roster.
The No. 8 overall pick of this year’s draft, Tyson should provide a boost to a team that is No. 14 in points scored and No. 23 in total yards.
The Saints will return to action at home against the Browns on Sunday.
Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders may be getting more than a handful of snaps in Week 9, when his team visits the Saints.
The Browns have announced that starting quarterback Deshaun Watson is in the concussion protocol.
“During the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Steelers, Deshaun took a helmet-to-helmet hit,” the team said in a statement released on Wednesday morning. “The ATC spotter called down to the sideline, and the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant (UNC) administered a gameday concussion evaluation. Deshaun was cleared by the UNC and returned on the Browns’ next offensive series. As part of the protocol, the team’s medical staff evaluated him again postgame and Monday morning. Both times he showed no symptoms, passed his evaluations, and was cleared. On Tuesday morning, he reported to the medical staff that he began experiencing concussion symptoms Monday night and was immediately placed in the concussion protocol.”
Watson will remain in the concussion protocol until he clears the various steps. Until then, Sanders will presumably be the starter — unless the coaching staff decides to pivot to Dillon Gabriel.
The development comes not long after Sanders hired an agent for the first time, presumably in an effort to secure a trade to a new team. For now, he’ll get a chance to make the case to become the eventual starter for the Browns. Or to attract interest elsewhere in him once 2027 rolls around.
For the 5-3 Browns, it’s a significant development. They need to keep pace with the 6-2 Steelers and 5-2 Bengals. Picking up a fourth loss without Watson (who eventually threw for 324 yards in the 27-6 loss at Pittsburgh) will make that harder to accomplish.
An offensive player is returning to New Orleans.
But to make it happen, the Saints have moved on from their kicker.
New Orleans announced on Tuesday that Daniel Carlson has been released and running back Audric Estime has been claimed off waivers.
Cleveland let Estime go on Monday.
In his first season with New Orleans, Carlson made just 8-of-12 field goals in seven games. All four misses came on attempts of at least 50 yards. He missed a 52-yard attempt during the fourth quarter of the Saints’ Week 7 loss to the Steelers in Paris.
Irish kicker Charlie Smyth, who appeared in six games for the Saints last year, is on the team’s practice squad.
Estime had been with the Saints since midway through last season before being waived in September with an injury settlement. He joined the Vikings’ practice squad and then was signed to the Browns’ 53-man roster last month. He appeared in one game for Cleveland, taking nine carries for 19 yards with a touchdown in the team’s Oct. 18 win over the Ravens.
The Browns waived running back Audric Estime on Monday, the team announced.
Estime was with the team for three games, playing in one. He totaled nine carries for 19 yards and a touchdown.
The Browns signed Estime off the Vikings’ practice squad on Oct. 13 after placing running back Raheim Sanders on injured reserve with a hip injury. Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson were also battling injuries at the time.
Estime entered the NFL as a fifth-round selection of the Broncos in 2024. He appeared in 13 games as a rookie, with 76 carries for 310 yards and two touchdowns.
He also spent time with the Eagles and Saints, with whom he appeared in seven games last season and recorded 46 carries for 198 yards and a touchdown.
The Saints have yet to see rookie wide receiver Jordyn Tyson in game action, but they would move closer to that moment if the first-round pick is designated for return from injured reserve this week.
Tyson has been out since injuring his hamstring this summer and head coach Kellen Moore told reporters on Monday that the team is still working through a decision on opening the wideout’s return window. If he does practice Wednesday, Tyson will have 21 days to work with the team before he must be activated and he can be activated at any point in that window.
Moore said the case is similar for running back Travis Etienne and left tackle Kelvin Banks. Etienne has been out since Week 3 with a hamstring injury and Banks sprained his ankle in Week 2.
Getting all three back would be a positive development for the Saints offense as the team tries to improve on a 2-5 start to the season.
The Saints made a change to their coaching staff during their bye week.
According to multiple reports, they have fired offensive run game coordinator T.J. Paganetti. It’s the first change to the staff since Saints owner Gayle Benson said last month that she would not accept the team’s level of play as the standard. The Saints are 1-1 since those comments and 2-5 on the season.
Paganetti joined the Saints as part of head coach Kellen Moore’s first staff in 2025. He and Moore initially worked together with the Eagles in 2024 and Paganetti was on the Eagles’ staff for the previous seven seasons as well. He initially worked for the Eagles in 2013 and 2014 and returned to the team after a two-year stint at Oregon.
The Saints rank 29th in the league with 86 rushing yards per game. They host the Browns in Week 9 in their first post-bye game.
Broncos coach (and long-time Saints coach) Sean Payton was going for his 200th career win on Sunday. And he got it.
It’s one thing to get to 200. It’s another thing to get there quickly, relative to others.
Payton is the sixth-fastest to 200 wins. He got there in 320 games.
The other five are Hall of Famers, with the exception of one who should be a Hall of Famer. Don Shula got there in 286 games. George Halas made it in 287 games. Curly Lambeau made it in 300 games. Bill Belichick made it in 307 games. And Paul Brown made it in 309 games.
Behind Payton is another Hall of Famer — Tom Landry. He got there in 325 games.
The other coaches with 200 or more wins are Andy Reid, Chuck Noll, Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Tomlin, and Dan Reeves.
Payton will now chase Reeves and Tomlin, who have 201 wins each, Schottenheimer, who has 205, and Noll, who has 209.
After that, it’s Brown with 222, Lambeau with 229, and Landry with 270.
