Kicker Charlie Smyth has not taken the typical path to the New Orleans Saints and the NFL. Born and raised in Ireland, Smyth was a Gaelic football player and goalkeeper on the Down county football team of the Gaelic Athletic Association as recently as 2023. He came to the NFL in 2024 as part of the league’s International Player Pathway Program.

Between the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine and his Pro Day, Smyth converted 20 of 26 field goals. It was enough for the Saints to sign him to a contract. Although he lost a training camp competition in 2024 to Blake Grupe, the Saints kept him on their practice squad that season. Re-signed to a reserve/future deal, Smyth would get another shot at Grupe’s job during 2025 training camp.

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Charlie Smyth Year in Review

For the second straight preseason, Smyth would provide competition to Grupe for the kicking role. Grupe again held off the former Gaelic star, but it was an extremely close battle the second time around. Like in 2024, the Saints re-signed Smyth to their practice squad.

Blake Grupe had major struggles to start the 2025 campaign, missing at least one field goal in 6 of 11 outings. After those 11 games, Grupe was only 18 of 26 (69.2%) on field goal opportunities. The Saints released him after Week 12, promoting Charlie Smyth to the active roster.

Smyth booted a 56-yard field goal, in rainy conditions, during his first NFL regular season outing against the Miami Dolphins. He’d miss a 48-yard try on the road at Tampa Bay the following week, but hit another 3-pointer and all three extra points during a 24-20 New Orleans victory. In Week 15 against the Panthers, Smyth cooly nailed a 47-yard game-winner on the final play. Smyth showed better consistency on his field goals and better range on kickoffs than the Saints got from Grupe earlier in the year. In six games, Smyth was perfect on all 13 extra points and converted 12 of 16 field goals, a 75% success rate. He was an impressive 4 of 6 on attempts beyond 50 yards and hit five field goals in a win over the Jets.

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Charlie Smyth has taken an uncommon path to the NFL. Now that he’s here, he may stick around for awhile. The Saints will likely bring in kicking competition for Smyth, but his success to end 2025 makes this a position of little worry for New Orleans this offseason.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints 2025 Year in Review: Charlie Smyth stabilized the kicking game