ENGLEWOOD, Colo — The Broncos are bringing back Wil Lutz after reaching agreement with the kicker on a new two-year contract, a source told 9NEWS.
Although Lutz was a Broncos' free-agent priority, it got scary for a few hours there. It was reported that Lutz had a three-year agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Broncos head coach Sean Payton stepped up, scrambled back and wound up reeling his kicker back in.
"Wil had a tremendous sense of loyalty to a guy (Payton) who had really helped him in his career,'' said Lutz's agent John Perla. "The Broncos were able to make it work so that Wil had a change in direction. Now he can continue what he's done with the team there and continue to work in the community there. It was quite a day."
After cutting longtime kicker Brandon McManus last spring, the Broncos went through an extended offseason and preseason kicker tryout. Only to have no one win the job.
New Broncos head coach Sean Payton brought in his longtime trusted kicker from the New Orleans Saints in Lutz. And now the Broncos don’t have to stress over a kicker tryout in 2024.
After a shaky first game last season, Lutz bounced back and had a nice year, making 30 of 34 field goals for an 88.2% conversion rate that ranked 12th in the league, and 29 of 31 extra points.
He became a fan of the Denver area and was hoping to return and kick again for Payton, who was rewarded for sticking with Lutz through his first-game jitters last year.
Lutz wound up coming through with some big late-game kicks in wins against the Bears, Packers, Bills and Vikings.
After kicking for a $1.7 million discount last year, Lutz’ market figured to be a two- or three-year contract worth $3.5 million to $4.5 million per year through the leverage of free agency – which he never technically reached. The official start of free agency is 2 p.m. Wednesday.
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