A decade ago, Wil Lutz was thinking about going to law school. That was 1,210 NFL points ago.
Lutz grew up the son of teachers in Newnan, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. Academics were stressed at home, although Lutz did develop into a decent middle back in soccer. Then, in 2010 as a junior, he gave kicking a try for the first time for the football team at Northgate High School in Newnan.
Recommended Stories
▶
Lutz did well but not well enough to earn a college scholarship. So he walked on in 2012 at Georgia State in Atlanta, which had just started a football program in 2010 and at the time was at the FCS level.
Georgia State did move up to FBS in 2013, when they went 0-12. Lutz by that time had earned a scholarship, but the struggling Panthers weren’t sending their kicker out much. So it was safe to say Lutz needed a backup plan if he didn’t make the NFL.
“Growing up, I wanted to be a sports agent,’’ Lutz said. “I wanted to go to law school and get into sports. My degree at Georgia State was prelaw and criminal justice, so my plan was to go to law school and kind of figure it out from there.”
Broncos kicker Wil Lutz kicks a field goal in the second half at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. The Broncos narrowly lost the game 17-16. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
As it turned out, Lutz didn’t need to send out any law school applications. By the time he was a senior in 2015, the Panthers had improved to 6-6 in the regular season and made the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., losing 27-16 to San Jose State. Lutz began to get more kicking attempts and became a legitimate NFL prospect.
Lutz wasn’t drafted but ended up playing for the New Orleans Saints from 2016-22. Since 2023, he has been with the Broncos and is now on the verge of an NFL record.
Lutz has made 111 straight extra points. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s one behind former Baltimore star Justin Tucker for the most made in a row since the NFL in 2015 moved the extra-point distance from 20 to 33 yards. Tucker, signed last Wednesday to Kansas City’s practice squad, made his 112 straight with the Ravens from 2015-18.
“We’ll see what happens,’’ Lutz said of possibly breaking the NFL record in Sunday’s game against the Chiefs at Empower Field. “I’ve (said) a hundred times how much I value the extra point. I value them a lot. But my goal isn’t to break the record, it’s to make every one the rest of the season, so whatever that number is at the end of the season.”
Lutz hasn’t missed an extra point since he clanged one off the left upright in Denver’s 24-22 at Buffalo on Nov. 11, 2023, on Monday Night Football. But Lutz ended up winning that game on a 36-yard field goal on the final play.
Lutz, 32, now has made 22 game-winning kicks since entering the NFL in 2016, the most among all kickers since then. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start booting a football until his junior year of high school.
Lutz is the son of Julie Lutz, a former elementary school principal and Bob Lutz, a former middle-school science teacher. Lutz said both now teach in the education department at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga.
Lutz’s brother, Wesley Lutz, who is three years older, had been Northgate’s kicker. And that led to Lutz eventually taking over for him.
“I think starting late actually helped me,’’ Lutz said. “I didn’t get burned out or annoyed. I just kept building and I was pretty raw when I went to college. But I just kind of fell in love with trying to learn how to be a kicker. Watching the ball go through the uprights was pretty cool.”
Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz (3) looks on against the Minnesota Vikings during an NFL preseason football game Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Lutz’s only offers to walk on were at Georgia State and Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. He decided to stay close to home and didn’t kick in any games as a freshman. As a sophomore in 2013, he began to show signs of development, which included kicking a school-record 53-yard field goal in a 45-3 loss at Alabama.
Lutz was 8 of 12 on field-goal attempts in 2013 and 7 of 8 in 2014. He went 12 of 19 in 2015 but demonstrated that he had a strong leg.
“He had range for sure,’’ said defensive back Chandon Sullivan, who was Lutz’s Georgia State teammate from 2014-15 and played in the NFL from 2018-23 with Philadelphia, Green Bay, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. “He didn’t really get a chance to show it, but then when we made it to a bowl game his senior year, people got a chance to see what he was capable of.”
Lutz, though, wonders if he would have gotten a pro shot had he not also been the school’s punter and averaged 44.3 yards as a senior.
“Fortunately, I punted too, so that kind of helped me get my foot in the door because I could handle all three duties,’’ Lutz said of also handling field goals and kickoffs.
Lutz signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens, who had Sam Koch, a Pro Bowl selection in 2015, as their punter and none other than Tucker as their kicker.
“It was a healthy competition,” Lutz said of battling Tucker, who ended up making seven Pro Bowls while playing for Baltimore from 2012-24. “He obviously at the time was very established. He helped me to an extent, but we also were competing, so I was more just watching him.”
With the Ravens of the AFC loaded at punter and kicker, Lutz didn’t make the roster. But then-Baltimore coach John Harbaugh took a liking to Lutz and asked him to make a list of teams he might like to join after being waived. Lutz gave him a list that included some AFC teams, but Harbaugh said he preferred to recommend Lutz only to teams in the NFC.
As it turned out, Harbaugh called Sean Payton, who was then coach of the NFC’s New Orleans Saints and is now in his fourth year leading the Broncos. At the time, the Saints had an ongoing competition between veterans Kai Forbath and Connor Barth, who had played for Denver in 2014, for their kicking job.
“So we had a kicking battle,’’ Payton said. “Every day in the media, it was who made what, both of those guys back and forth. Then we brought Wil in (before) the final cut and had a workout. We signed him and then released both the other two kickers.”
It turned out quite well for Lutz in the Big Easy. As a rookie in 2016, he made 28 of 34 field-goal attempts.
“It’s a cool story and it’s a little luck,’’ Lutz said of ending up with the Saints. “I was fortunate the Saints at the time wanted to go with a young guy. I had, like a tough start, but at the end of the year I had (13) consecutive makes (on field goals), and I think I proved them right for sticking with me.”
Lutz soon became a mainstay in New Orleans. He was on the Saints team that made it to the NFC Championship Game in the 2018 season and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2019.
“I had him in New Orleans and I liked him a lot,’’ said Mike Westhoff, a now-retired NFL assistant who was the Saints’ special teams coach from 2017-18 and also had Lutz as Denver’s assistant head coach from 2022-23. “He was extremely accurate. … We used to have like $5 bets where I would give him odds to see if he could hit a goal post and he took more money than he gave up. … Wil’s a strong-minded individual. He’s a tough kid. He’s not a nervous wreck and he believes in his ability.”
New Orleans Saints placekicker Wil Lutz (3) pats holder Blake Gillikin (4) after a field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)
All went well with the Saints until Lutz missed the 2021 season due to having multiple groin and core muscle surgeries. Lutz called it “hard” sitting out.
Lutz wasn’t cleared to return to the Saints until the start of training camp in 2022 and had an off year, with Payton having resigned as coach and being replaced by Dennis Allen. He made 23 of 30 field-goal attempts for 74.2%, the lowest of his career, although he did have a career-long 60-yard boot.
“The trust goes quick when you don’t kick for a full year,’’ Lutz said. “I think my performance that year was my performance. I own it. … I went through a little bit of a rough patch, but the truth is it got me (to Denver) and I’m grateful.”
Lutz was beaten out in training camp in 2023 by rookie Blake Grupe, and it was believed the Saints were going to release him if they could not find a trade partner. Interestingly, the New Orleans special teams coordinator then was Darren Rizzi, now in his second season in that role with the Broncos.
By 2023, Payton had landed in Denver after a year off from coaching and he brought in Westhoff primarily to provide advice on special teams. The Broncos had released kicker Brandon McManus in May and had signed Elliott Fry and Brett Maher as potential replacements. It didn’t go well with either, so on Aug. 29, the Broncos traded a seventh-round pick to the Saints for Lutz.
“I really wanted him and I knew Sean liked him a lot,’’ Westhoff said. “We were very happy to get him. As soon as we got Wil Lutz, in my mind the search was over.”
Lutz didn’t waste any time winning over his coaches. In 2023, he made 30 of 34 field goals, earning him a two-year, $8.4 million contract extension. Last November, he got a three-year, $16.1 million extension, this one taking him through the 2028 season.
Denver Broncos placekicker Wil Lutz (3) kicks the winning field goal in the fourth quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 in Denver. (AP Photo/Bart Young)
“There’s a consistency,’’ Payton said of Lutz, who has made 101 of 115 field-goal attempts in his four Broncos seasons for 87.8%. “He’s made a lot of big kicks.”
Lutz called it “great” to have been reunited with Payton and now having played all but one season of his career under him.
“It’s been a fun journey,’’ Lutz said. “It’s been good (being in Denver). We love it here. My wife (Megan) loves it here. … It’s a fun fan base to play for. They expect you to win and (I) think that’s what you want as a player.”
Lutz doesn’t deny, though, that some moments this season haven’t been fun. He had a three-game stretch in which he missed a field goal in each game. He had a 43-yard attempt hit the left upright in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams, was wide right on a 58-yard attempt in Week 4 at San Francisco and wide left on a 42-yard effort in Week 5 at the Los Angeles Chargers, although the miss against the 49ers hardly can be faulted.
Lutz, though, has bounced back strong. He has since made six field goals in a row, including a 53-yard boot that beat Seattle 17-14 in overtime in Week 6.
Denver Broncos place-kicker Wil Lutz (3) reacts with punter Jeremy Crawshaw (16) after making a field goal to win the game in overtime against the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)
“It’s a performance-based business,’’ said Lutz, now 12 of 15 this season on field goals and 12 of 12 on extra points. “It’s what have you done for us lately, and so I have been through slumps before and I’ve come out of slumps and gone on runs. … I’m fortunate to have a building that trusts me regardless of the previous outcome and I think you earn that. … I live this career one kick at a time, and obviously that was a little frustrating period.”
Lutz, though, has had no slump when it comes to extra points.
“That feels like forever ago,’’ center Luke Wattenberg, in his fifth Broncos season, said about when Lutz last missed an extra point.
“He’s definitely automatic,’’ said wide receiver Troy Franklin. “Whenever we see Wil on the field, we know that he’s going to make (the extra point).”
On Sunday, Lutz could put himself in the NFL record book and replace Tucker, whom he once competed against as a rookie fresh out of Georgia State. Tucker won’t be at the game since players on Kansas City’s practice squad don’t travel to road games.
Sullivan plans to watch the game from his home in Atlanta.
“I am so happy for him,’’ Sullivan said. “He’s put Georgia State on the map. Wouldn’t it be an amazing story (setting the record) by coming out of Georgia State, a small school, being undrafted and also he played with Justin Tucker during his humble beginnings (in the NFL)?’’
As for going to law school or becoming a sports agent, Lutz said he has moved past those thoughts. Whenever his career ends, he wants to work on the business side for an NFL team. Having had 11 years of getting NFL checks and counting, Lutz would figure to be well qualified for that.