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Saints To Sign Kicker Connor Barth

The Saints appear to be on the verge of adding some competition at kicker this offseason, by signing a former division rival.

By Wallace Delery
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Just days after cutting former Jaguars and Steelers kicker Josh Scobee, the New Orleans Saints have quickly filled the competition void at kicker by reportedly signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker, Connor Barth.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the signing via Twitter:

We knew this was coming. The Saints had an open roster spot after releasing Josh Scobee Tuesday, leaving only Kai Forbath at placekicker. No way Forbath had just won the starting spot outright before training camp even started.

Barth is a solid veteran kicker who has spent the majority of his 8 year NFL career with the Bucs, including last season.  He was released from Tampa after they used their second round pick on a kicker last month.  Barth has a career field goal percentage of 84.8% and his career long is 57 yards (2012).  Last season, he had a FG percentage of 82.1% and his longest kick came from 53 yards.  He also missed the first and only PAT of his career in 2015, but was perfect at FG attempts within 40 yards.

I like the Connor Barth signing, he should provide much better competition for current kicker Kai Forbath than the aforementioned Scobee.  I had hoped the Saints would have picked up Barth last offseason, during the Zack Hocker/Dustin Hopkins debacle, but he resigned in Tampa after a short stint in Denver.

Now the Saints will have a more proven kicker on the roster, and a battle between two veterans at kicker should prove more fruitful than what the team experienced last offseason.  It would be surprising not to see Barth win the job outright before the season begins, but for now we'll wait and see.

Here are Barth's career stats:

Overall FGs 20-29 Yards 30-39 Yards 40-49 Yards 50+ Yards PAT
Year Team G Blk Lng FGM FG Att Pct M Att Pct M Att Pct M Att Pct M Att Pct XP Att XPM Pct Blk
2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 0 53 23 28 82.1 9 9 100.0 8 8 100.0 3 6 50.0 3 5 60.0 26 25 96.2 0
2014 Denver Broncos 5 0 50 15 16 93.8 4 4 100.0 5 5 100.0 3 4 75.0 1 1 100.0 15 15 100.0 0
2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 15 1 57 28 33 84.8 7 7 100.0 3 4 75.0 12 13 92.3 6 9 66.7 39 39 100.0 0
2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 0 55 26 28 92.9 5 5 100.0 6 6 100.0 13 14 92.9 2 3 66.7 23 23 100.0 0
2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 2 53 23 28 82.1 6 6 100.0 10 10 100.0 6 10 60.0 1 2 50.0 36 36 100.0 0
2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 0 54 14 19 73.7 2 2 100.0 4 6 66.7 5 7 71.4 3 4 75.0 12 12 100.0 0
2008 Kansas City Chiefs 10 0 45 10 12 83.3 6 6 100.0 3 4 75.0 1 1 100.0 0 1 0.0 24 24 100.0 0
TOTAL 83 3 57 139 164 84.8 39 39 100.0 39 43 90.7 43 55 78.2 16 25 64.0 175 174 99.4 0

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