Dennis Allen shedding conservative label after cuts

New Orleans Saints place kicker Blake Grupe (19) fist bumps Saints place kicker Wil Lutz (3) during a NFL preseason game against the Houston Texans at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, August 27, 2023. (Photo by Brett Duke, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The New Orleans Saints' ultimate goal this season is to get to Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world and site of Super Bowl LVIII.

Dennis Allen showed Tuesday that he isn’t afraid to roll the dice to get there.

Allen, like most defensive-minded coaches, has a label for being conservative. But he showed Tuesday when the Saints trimmed their roster to 53 players that he isn't always about just playing it safe.

He decided to turn his team's kicking duties over to Blake Grupe, an undrafted rookie who never has kicked in an actual NFL game. Allen believes in Grupe just as much as the poised 24-year-old believes in himself, which is what helped him surprisingly win the kicking job over Wil Lutz. Because of that, the Saints traded Lutz to Denver.

Just like that, Allen shed that conservative label by relying on a kicker who looks so young that Caesars Superdome security members tried to stop him from going onto the field because they thought he was a fan. Grupe went on to kick a field goal as time expired to help the Saints win the game and to help himself win the job.

Lutz, meanwhile, is heading to the Denver Broncos to reunite with Sean Payton. The Saints got a seventh-round draft choice in exchange.

“Tough, real tough,” Allen said of the decision.

It's a decision that will be monitored not just this season, but for the rest of Grupe's time in New Orleans.

Lutz vs. Grupe became the most intriguing position battle throughout camp, surpassing the Paulson Adebo vs. Alontae Taylor one we talked about so much in July. Grupe and Lutz seemed pretty even throughout camp. By parting ways with the veteran Lutz, the Saints save about a million dollars plus whatever incentives Lutz would have earned.

They also lose a guy who brought stability to the kicking game when he came to New Orleans in 2016. Before Lutz, the Saints' kicking game resembled a merry-go-round as players shuffled in and out. Lutz was as steady as they come for the most part, although he had a down year in 2022 when he converted just 74.2% of his field goals.

This was a move many of us thought the Saints could do, but we just weren’t so sure they would do it. Allen wasn't afraid to.

He didn't stop there. The Saints also waived punter Blake Gillikin and decided to keep undrafted rookie Lou Hedley, completely overhauling the kicking game.

“It’s a tough situation to be in, but yet a good situation because we felt like we had four guys who are NFL-caliber players,” Allen said. “We decided to go with the young guys.”

It's a bold move that says a lot about Allen’s willingness to put his own stamp on the team he inherited from Payton last season.

Chances are, it won’t take long to see whether they were the right moves.

There will be a game or two this season won or lost on Grupe’s right leg.

Every kick he makes will make Allen look like a genius. Every one he misses will have Saints fans screaming, “We should’ve kept Lutz.”

It's a risk Allen was willing to take, one of a few surprising moves Tuesday. The Saints also waived Bradley Roby, the slot cornerback who most everyone had projected on their 53-man roster. Allen admits that decision was just as tough as the special-teams ones.

But it’s one he wanted to make as the team continues to build a roster filled with seasoned veterans and promising young players such as Grupe and Hedley.

“We made the moves that we feel like are all encompassing for our football team,” Allen said.

With every Grupe field goal attempt, we'll know more on whether the move was "good" or "no good."

Email Rod Walker at [email protected].