Source: Saints sign kicker York over vet Tucker (0:46)
Source: Saints sign kicker York over vet Tucker (0:46)
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Katherine TerrellNov 25, 2025, 01:11 PM ET
- Katherine Terrell came back to ESPN to cover the New Orleans Saints in the summer of 2022. She left the company in 2019 after joining in 2016 to cover the Cincinnati Bengals. Katherine is a graduate of LSU and a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native, and she has covered the NFL since 2013.
NEW ORLEANS — The Saints have signed kicker Cade York to their practice squad following a tryout on Tuesday, the team announced Tuesday.
York and Justin Tucker both tried out with the Saints on Tuesday after Saints kicker Blake Grupe missed two field goals against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. and was released by the team on Tuesday. Grupe missed eight kicks this season, but the Saints did not bring in any kickers for a workout until this week.
In a post to X, Grupe thanked the organization and said he «can’t wait for my next opportunity to prove what I can do.»
Tuesday’s workout was Tucker’s first since he was reinstated by the NFL on Nov. 11. He was suspended for the first 10 weeks of the 2025 season because of 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 spas in the Baltimore area had accused him of sexual misconduct.
York, 24, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of LSU but spent only one season there. He was most recently in Cincinnati, where he kicked five games in place of injured Evan McPherson.
Saints coach Kellen Moore said Monday that they 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. Tucker, 36, made only 73.3% of his kicks in his final season in Baltimore, a career low.
«He’s been a really good kicker in this league for a really long time and he’s had a ton of success and he’s been a leader for Baltimore for a long time,» Moore said. «He’s been one of their leaders for an extended period of time with a very successful team and so obviously there’s been some stuff that’s been unfortunate. He’s gone through an experience and I think it’s about collecting what that experience was and we’ll evaluate the football aspect of it and we’ll evaluate everything else as well.
Tucker was cut with three years left on a four-year, $22 million contract extension signed in 2022. The extension made him the league’s highest-paid kicker at the time.
Grupe, 27, was with the Saints for three seasons after he was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2023. He had competed with practice squad kicker Charlie Smyth in training camp for the past two seasons. Smyth, who came to the Saints via the International Player Pathway, has never kicked in a regular-season game.
Grupe made only 69.2% of his kicks this season, a career low.
The Saints also signed RB Evan Hull from the practice squad to the active roster, activated T Barry Wesley off injured reserve, and signed RB Ian Wheeler and WR Samori Toure to the practice squad Tuesday.
