Charlie Smyth expecting elevation to New Orleans Saints active roster

Former Down footballer Charlie Smyth kicked a game-winning field goal for the New Orleans Saints against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Mayobridge man Charlie Smyth (centre) has had a dream start to life in the NFL. Pic: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Charlie Smyth is expecting to be elevated to the New Orleans Saints’ active roster for this Sunday’s NFL week 16 against the New York Jets after his last-gasp heroics against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.

The Mayobridge man has made a sensational start to life in the big leagues having only kicked a ‘football’ for the first time just over two years ago, and without progressing through the college football route normally deemed essential to a shot at the pros.

The Panthers game was his third in the NFL. A product of the International Player Pathway (IPP) Programme, he capped it off by kicking the three points that won the game from 42 yards against their conference rivals in the dying seconds.

NFL rules state that players can only be elevated three times from the practise squad to the active roster in the one season. 

That leaves the Saints with a decision to make on the Co. Down man ahead of the Jets’ visit to Louisiana's Caesars Superdome.

Cade York, a 24-year old LSU graduate who is with his seventh NFL team since just 2022, is the other option for Saints head coach Kellen Moore. 

York, like Smyth, is currently registered to the practise squad.

Blake Grupe had been the No.1 kicker but eight misses in eleven attempts during what had for long periods been a tough season for the Super Bowl XLIV champions cost him his job. He has since moved to the Indianapolis Colts.

“Well, the hope is that we would get on to the 53 [man roster] this week. That's the plan. That's the kind of stuff that's going on in the background with my agents and the front office and things like that.

“To be honest, I would like to think I’m playing this week so I'll just let that take care of itself and I'll just stay focused on what I do, which is kicking the ball, and I'll let everybody else handle that in the background.

“But I think we're looking pretty good in that right now,” said Smyth on a call with international media on Tuesday evening. “So I'm just delighted to have the moments this past couple of weeks and hopefully now we can help the team going forward.” 

Being elevated to the active roster with three weeks of the season to go against beatable opposition would obviously be a major step forward for Smyth’s goal of establishing himself long-term in a league where the average kicking career is less than five years.

The Over The Cap website has reported Smyth’s annual practise squad salary to be just over €250,000. Very good money, clearly, but nothing compared to the possible financial return on offer with a promotion and extended run with the team.

Most field goal kickers earn well over €1m per season with a chunk of it guaranteed regardless of injury. Harrison Butker with the Kansas City Chiefs earns five times that, but then money is just a subplot here.

Smyth shared how he was smiling as the Saints moved up the field and into kicking range on Sunday, how the thought of missing in such a pressurised situation never entered his mind, and how his phone has been “blowing up” since his debut against the Miami Dolphins.

And he’s only getting started.

“You’re only as good really as your last kick, and fans only love you unless you're making all your kicks. So it's really onto the Jets now, trying to own every moment that I have, and trying not to think big picture ahead because then I can kind of put a little bit more pressure on yourself.” 

The only doubts that appear to have invaded his mind had nothing to do with his ability or his temperament. It was instead, whether his unusual background would deprive him of the chance to show what he could do. It didn’t.

His work with Tadhg Leader, whose eponymous kicking academy has created a route through to college and NFL football for Irish players, set the journey in motion and he is still in touch with the former rugby player on an almost daily basis.

Other pieces of the puzzle have fallen neatly in to place.

The Saints are only 4-10 for the season but they are showing signs of improvement having won their last two games under a 37-year old head coach in his first season in charge and with a young roster and a rookie quarterback in Tyler Shough.

Veterans like Demario Davis, Cam Jordan and Foster Moreau bring the experience to a squad that bounced with joy with and for Smyth as he was handed the game ball and asked to wrap the day up with the closing words in the locker room post-Carolina.

It was the one time Smyth looked awkward.

“I don't know if it's just being Irish or whatever, but you're kind of like, ‘okay, all right, fellas, can we move on or whatever?’ But I feel like you're supposed to enjoy those moments, right? It’s not often that the head coach calls out the kicker to break the team down.

“So it was a really good moment. You kind of just enjoy it because I feel like there's been a lot of hard work behind the scenes this past couple of years where you may be questioning, ‘am I ever going to see the field, or is my lack of experience going to hold me back?’” 

The day ended with a few beers and some pizza with his mother, his sister and his girlfriend back in the apartment, but all the melatonin and other sleep aids were useless as the adrenaline of it all slushed through his system and kept sleep at bay for much of the night.

No wild celebrations, no mad pronouncements. There's work to be done.