Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Kicker Garrett Hartley is allowed to rejoin the Saints today, now that his four-game suspension has been served. But the team doesn't have to make an official roster move until next Monday, according to General Manager Mickey Loomis.

Saints Coach Sean Payton declined to announce the team's plans for Hartley. But reading between the lines, it sounds like the team might be leaning toward keeping both him and veteran kicker John Carney on the 53-man roster.
As Payton went through the team's "hypothetical" scenarios, he said they could keep both kickers on the 53-man roster, but leave one kicker inactive on game days.

With Carney kicking accurately and punter Thomas Morstead doing such a good job on kickoffs, there's no immediate need for Hartley's strong leg. But the Saints might want to hang on to Hartley for later this season, if needed, or for future years since they feel is an impressive young talent.

UPDATE: Kicker John Carney expects to keep his job with New Orleans Saints ... for now

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Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

I don't know... there will be a time when the Saints are going to need to kick a 45+ yard FG... what then?

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Honestly, I like the old man's chances on an important kick.

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

carney is accurate......but he is somewhat inconsistant and even tho he has kicked a lot of crucial field goals.......those ones that he misses stick out like a sore thumb and i have lost a lot of faith in him

hartley is the new school kicker and im all on board with him.....he missed 2 field goals in preseason but preseason doesnt mean anything and he is perfect as a saint in the regular season

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

40 yarder to win or lose a game?

I'll take Carney over Hartley all day long.

I think its more likely we'll need crucial 40 yarders more frequently than 50 yarders.

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Tough choice. I would take Hartley though. I can't imagine how it would help the Saints to keep both and not only have one active on gameday. What is the point of that?

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

good call
you hit the nail on the head

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

are you kidding me!? am i the only one who remembers the river-city relay in jacksonville on december 21, 2003!? god, i will never forgive carney for that crap!

i was at the game w/ my girlfriend and parents. i got lucky and had some awesome tickets through my dad's boss at work. he hooked it up because he knew what a huge saints fan i was. i had these a-hole jags fans talking smack to me the entire game. they felt they had the last laugh when they were up 20-13 w/ 7 seconds left. then we lateraled a million times to miracuoulsy score to make it 20-19! all we needed was an extra point to tie it! i was telling those guys to kiss my black and gold ass! that was it! we were gonna tie, take it to overtime, and make it to the playoffs!

....but, no! that ugly-ass, carnival-ride operating, moron missed the extra point! grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

:p http://content.ytmnd.com/content/5/6...5a62827719.jpg

Kicker John Carney expects to keep his job with New Orleans Saints ... for now
 

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

The damn exploded and the reservoir drained all over us when we couldn't make a 45 yarder against Chicago with the same kicker 3 years ago. His leg is weaker now. I'd go with Hartley and bring Carney back (or Morten) in a pinch. Add another OL spot to the roster if we have an expendable spot.

Re: Kicker John Carney expects to keep his job with New Orleans Saints ... for now
 

If I were a betting man, which I am, I would bet that the Saints only keep Carney around long enough to determine if Hartley is still in FG kicking shape.

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

This is 2009. That was SIX freaking years ago. Let it go man.

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

ok, danno. i'll just forget about 9/11, too. why hold a grudge against terrorists...i mean, that was 8 years ago!

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

boonedocksaint just let it go man. Heres a qoute from wikipedia

"With the loss, the Saints fell to 7-8 on the season and were eliminated from contention for the 2003 NFL playoffs. Even if the Saints had improbably won in overtime, they would have been eliminated from the playoffs, as the Dallas Cowboys won their tenth game of the season that day (up from 9, the highest possible number of wins the Saints could have had had they won) and the Seahawks eventually won ten games to gain a wild card.

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Dude, NEVER EVER EVER liken the worst terrorist attack in United States history in which over 1,000 were killed to a missed extra point during a simple little football game. NEVER EVER EVER!

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

thanks for looking that up for me. i haven't forgotten that part, either. that's not the point. the point is i dont like carney. i have held a grudge since that day. and guess what? i'll never like gramatica either for missing the fg last year against denver! (that and all the other kicks he missed):p

hartley hasn't f'ed up yet and missed big kicks, so, he deserves a shot! not some over-the-hill dude w/ no leg strength who's missed countless big fg's and and extra point!

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Do you guys think Payton keeps two kickers and waive someone else?

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Carney hasn't missed countless big FG's. He's one of the best clutch kickers to ever kick in the NFL.

Re: Saints have until next week to decide on kicker Garrett Hartley's status
 

Yeah, I think the Saints probably need to stick with Carney. I have no idea how the Saints can keep both kickers. What position do you subtract from to make room? I am not sure if you can keep another kicker around for 45 yard plus field goal attempts. Maybe for the short term the Saints can keep both, but we all know an injury is going to hit and that roster spot will be needed. I just don't know at this point...