Sean Payton has only trusted one kicker in Denver since he arrived in 2023. Now, that leg will be sticking around for another three years.
Denver and kicker Wil Lutz have agreed to a three-year contract extension, a source confirmed to The Denver Post on Friday. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The extension is well-earned security for the 31-year-old, who was named the AFC’s special teams player of the week a few days ago after finishing 5 of 5 on field goals — including the game-winner — in Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lutz is in his third season with the Broncos, after arriving via trade with New Orleans in August 2023. He’s the 13th-highest-paid kicker in the NFL by annual salary ($4.2 million) and was set to hit free agency after his two-year deal expired at the end of 2025.
Now, Lutz will remain the Broncos’ trusted kicker through the 2028 season. Payton went through a slew of kickers in his first decade in New Orleans, from John Carney to Garrett Hartley to John Kasay. In 2016, though, the Saints brought Lutz in for a workout on the recommendation of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. The then-rookie won Payton’s starting job, and has remained his starting kicker ever since — aside from 2021, when he missed the entire season with a core muscle injury.
Lutz hit on 61 of 68 (89.7%) field goal attempts across his first two seasons in Denver, and has followed that up by connecting on 17 of 20 so far in 2025. He was named the AFC’s special teams player of the month in October after nailing a game-winner against the New York Giants, and he hit another game-winner against the Houston Texans in early November. His season-long is a 57-yarder against the New York Jets in October.
Lutz’s unique relationship with Payton was on display in Houston when Payton was caught by TV cameras yelling “Right through!” at the kicker before the game-winning attempt.
“It’s a funny position and a lot of it, like golf, is between the ears,” Payton said in late October. “They can hit these balls, and then pretty soon they become trained killers then where they thrive in that.”
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