How many NFL teams don’t have a kicker on their 53-man roster right now? If the New Orleans Saints aren’t the only one, they have to be one of the few. Saints coach Kellen Moore told reporters on Wednesday that the team is sticking with Charlie Smyth as their kicker for Week 14’s road game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even so, Smyth is staying on the team’s practice squad. For now.
The good news is that it isn’t costing him much. According to Article 33, Section 5 of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, Smyth will receive the same weekly game check any other second-year pro would qualify for:
If a Practice Squad player is elevated to a Club’s Active/Inactive List for any regular season game, the player’s weekly compensation specified in Paragraph 4 of the Practice Squad Player Contract will be adjusted to one-seventeenth (1/17th) of the Paragraph 5 minimum salary for players on a Club’s Active/Inactive List with the Practice Squad player’s number of Credited Seasons (i.e., the “up” amount) for such game.
That’s about $56,470, before taxes. Smyth has otherwise been making just over $13,700 each week when not being elevated for games so he’s probably thrilled about the raise (to say nothing of getting into games and making a difference). But NFL rules cap single-game elevations at three weeks, so the Saints can bring him up like this one more time after the Buccaneers game before they’ll have to sign him to the 53-man roster so he can keep playing. If he keeps kicking well, that’ll end up being an easy decision to make.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints stick with Charlie Smyth, but keep kicker on the practice squad