Take a deep dive into the New Orleans Saints roster ahead of training camp with a player-by-player breakdown at each position.
2022 New Orleans Saints roster: Specialists
Wide receiver/return specialist Deonte Harty finished the 2020 regular season with 20 receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown while adding six carries for 51 yards. In the return game, the All-Pro return specialist fielded 17 punts for 207 yards (12.2 avg.) and 16 kickoffs totaling 436 yards with a long of 75 yards.
In his fifth season with the Saints, kicker Wil Lutz remained consistent hitting a career-high 57 of 58 extra points (a career-high 98.3 percent). Lutz converted 23 of 28 field-goal attempts, two of them being game-winners in Week 5 vs. the Chargers and Week 9 against the Bears in the Windy City. When lining up from 30-39 yards, Lutz was a perfect 10 for 10.
After serving as a holder in 2018 and 2019 for Syracuse University, Nolan Cooney earned Pro Football Focus honorable mention All-America and third-team All-ACC honors in his first year as the team's punter in 2020, when he punted in 11 games with 74 attempts for a 44.8-yard average.
Punter Blake Gillikin spent the 2020 season on injured reserve. Gillikin will look to compete for the starting job throughout training camp. At Penn State he averaged 42.2 yards per punt as he was selected All-Big Ten honorable mention by the conference coaches and media and a CoSIDA Academic All-American first team for the second consecutive year in 2019.
Long snapper Zach Wood snapped for all punts and place kicks in all 16 regular season games and both postseason contests in 2020 and has provided consistency since his arrival.
