Source: Saints release K Grupe, sign York over Tucker after tryout

NEW ORLEANS – The Saints are signing Cade York to their practice squad after a tryout on Tuesday, a source tells ESPN.

York and Justin Tucker both had attempts with the Saints on Tuesday after Saints kicker Blake Gruppe missed two field goals against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. And was released by the team on Tuesday, sources confirmed to ESPN. The group has missed eight kicks this season, but the Saints didn’t bring a kicker to workouts until this week.

Tuesday’s workout was Tucker’s first since being reinstated by the NFL on November 11. Tucker was suspended for the first 10 weeks of the 2025 season due to violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Tucker, who kicked for the Baltimore Ravens for 13 seasons, was released by the team in May after the Baltimore Banner reported that 16 massage therapists at eight different spas in the Baltimore area had accused Tucker of sexual misconduct.

York, 24, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of LSU, but he only spent one season there. He was most recently in Cincinnati, where he played in five games in place of the injured Evan McPherson.

Saints coach Kellen Moore said Monday he wanted to bring Tucker in for a workout because of his years of success in Baltimore, where he made seven Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro five times. The 36-year-old Tucker completed only 73.3% of his kicks in his final season in Baltimore, a career low.

“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.

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

Gruppe, 27, has been with the Saints for three seasons after signing as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2023. He has competed with practice squad kicker Charlie Smith in training camp for the past two seasons. Smith, who came to the Saints via the International Player Pathway, has never kicked a regular season game.

Gruppe made only 69.2% of his kicks this season, a career low.