New Orleans Saints News & Rumors

The Saints are making another change at kicker. They are signing veteran Cody Parkey, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This would stand to signal the end of Aldrick Rosas‘ New Orleans run.

Rosas has made just 1 of 4 field goal tries this season, having missed his past three kicks. The most recent came Sunday in a loss to the Giants. Parkey has not yet kicked during the 2021 season.

This deal appears set to be temporary. Primary Saints kicker Wil Lutz is only expected to miss a couple more games while recovering from his groin injury, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets. Lutz aggravated a groin issue in early August. He has been New Orleans’ primary kicker since 2016.

Parkey has become a well-traveled specialist, having kicked for five teams as a pro. After two straight years as the Eagles’ kicker to start his career, which included a Pro Bowl nod in 2014, Parkey has not been with the same team in consecutive seasons since. He bounced to Cleveland in 2016, Miami in ’17, Chicago in ’18, Tennessee in ’19 and back to Cleveland last season. The Bears stint serves as Parkey’s most memorable stay, with the infamous “double doink” game spotlighting their kicker position throughout the following offseason.

The Saints have, in fact, cut Rosas. They initially signed the ex-Giants Pro Bowler as Lutz’s replacement during the preseason. Rosas, who kicked in six games with the Jaguars last season, continues to see his career trend in the wrong direction. While he missed a difficult field goal in the Saints’ loss to the Giants — from 58 yards out — he missed 36- and 52-yard tries in Week 3.

Parkey, 29, made 19 of 22 attempts to help the Browns to the playoffs. He did miss four extra-point tries in his second Cleveland stay and has not made a 50-yard field goal since 2019. The Browns placed him on IR earlier this year with a quad injury but reached an injury settlement in August, opening the door for Parkey to kick for another team this season.