Kicker Justin Tucker getting tryout with Saints, first since ban

Metairie, La. – The New Orleans Saints are bringing in former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker for a tryout, coach Kellen Moore confirmed Monday.

Tucker and Cade York are the two kickers who will try out for the Saints on Tuesday after the Blake group missed two field goals against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Tucker was suspended for the first 10 weeks of the 2025 NFL season due to violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy and was made eligible for reinstatement on November 11. This is his first attempt since the suspension ended.

The Ravens released Tucker in May after he was investigated by the NFL for sexual misconduct. The investigation began after the Baltimore Banner reported that 16 massage therapists at eight different spas in the Baltimore area had accused Tucker of sexual misconduct in incidents that occurred between 2012-16. Tucker has repeatedly denied the allegations and called them “categorically false” in a social media post last spring.

Moore was asked if he wanted to talk to Tucker about those allegations during his visit. “It’s all part of the journey and conversation you have to have,” he said.

“Like a lot of players, the field component of this thing is that you bring guys in here to evaluate them, but also you want to get to know guys and maybe get to know the situation here and there, and certainly he’s had a suspension in the league, he’s served that suspension,” Moore said. “Obviously there’s some information to be gathered. Obviously, our personnel group will do a really good job of gathering and negotiating all the information… but it will be an exercise, and we’ll see how it all goes.”

Moore cited Tucker’s accomplishments in Baltimore as one of the reasons the Saints wanted to bring him in for a workout. Tucker, 36, signed with the Ravens as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2012 and spent 13 seasons there. He was a first-team All-Pro five times and made the Pro Bowl seven times, but is coming off a career-low 73.3% season kicking percentage in 2024.

Tucker was waived with three years remaining on a four-year, $22 million contract extension he signed in 2022. This extension made him the league’s highest-paid kicker at the time.

“He’s been a very good kicker in this league for a long time and has had a lot of success and has been a leader for Baltimore for a long time,” Moore said. “He’s been one of their leaders for a long time with a very successful team and so obviously there have been some things that have been unfortunate. He’s been through an experience, and I think it’s about gathering that experience, and we’ll evaluate the football aspect of it and we’ll evaluate everything else as well.”

Moore said the Saints will do their “due diligence” regarding Tucker and “gather as much information as possible.” He said he and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis will have plenty of conversations during the evaluation process.

“We weren’t in Baltimore, we’re not part of that process and so it’s about those conversations as you go through this thing. We’ll keep that private,” Moore said.

Gruppe has made only 69.2% of his field goals this season and has now missed eight attempts. Moore said this is the first time the team has tried out kickers this season, but he didn’t say that the tryouts mean they are definitely moving on from the group.

Moore said, “No. No. I think it’s all part of going through this process. We’ll bring in some guys and just work out, and we’ll see where it all goes.” “Blake is a good kicker in this league. Obviously, it’s unfortunate we’ve missed some lately and so he’s had some good moments.”

The Saints currently have Charlie Smith on their practice squad and Moore said he will also be included in the evaluation process. Smith, 24, came to the Saints via the International Player Pathway last season and has never featured in a regular season game.