FLOWERY BRANCH — Kicker Younghoe Koo, who had been with the team since 2019, was released by the Falcons on Friday.
Parker Romo, who made 5 of 5 field goals in the 22-6 win over Minnesota last Sunday, was named the kicker for the upcoming Panthers’ game by coach Raheem Morris shortly after practice. Later, Koo was released.
“We’re going to go with Romo,” Morris said. “He earned that last week. Obviously, going out there and going 5 for 5. You’ve got to go with that again.”
Koo did not travel with the team to Minnesota. The Falcons signed Romo to the practice squad on Tuesday, Sept. 9, to compete with Koo, who missed a last-second 44-yard field goal in the 23-20 season-opening loss to Tampa Bay on Sept. 7
The 28-year-old Romo is from Peachtree City, near Atlanta, and played at McIntosh High. Romo made 11 of 12 field goals in four games with Minnesota last season.
Koo missed a career-high nine field goals in 2024. The Falcons also have Lenny Krieg in training camp, and the German player was retained on the practice squad.
Romo was installed as the kicker last Saturday morning and was promoted to the game-day roster later in the day.
The affable Koo was coming off a tough season that ended with him being placed on injured reserve after missing nine kicks. He came back and made 92% of his kicks over the offseason, but after he missed a potential game-tying field-goal attempt against the Bucs, the Falcons brought in six players to try out for his position.
Special teams coordinator Marquice Williams was impressed with how Romo handled the situation.
“I mean, when you’re playing that position, you could get away with some of those things on like a short notice, coming in on a Tuesday, practicing Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, travel Saturday to go play in the game,” Williams said. “That position, those are kind of some things you could get away with doing. It’s not ideal, but it’s cool to like, when you have a player like Parker who comes in, puts his head down, is in an uncomfortable environment.”
The new teammates, some of whom he’d never met, rallied around the new kicker.
“Our job as coaches and as an organization (is) to put him in, make him as comfortable as possible,” Williams said. “Get him, and onboard him as fast as possible so he could go out there and do his job at the highest level.”
Punter Bradley Pinion, who doubles as the holder, and long snapper Liam McCullough worked last week to help Koo and Romo prepare as if they were kicking against the Vikings.
Romo, who spent the offseason and training camp with the Patriots, prepared as if he would play.
After making five field goals and considering the kicking woes around the NFL, Romo suspected he landed the job, quite possibly with the Falcons.
“I’m going to celebrate the win for 24 hours, and then it’s back to work,” Romo said.
Koo’s salary-cap figure of $5.5 million ranks fourth highest among NFL kickers. As a vested veteran, Koo’s $4.25 million salary became fully guaranteed once he was on the game day roster for Week 1. The Falcons will get back $2 million in salary cap relief with Koo’s release.
Romo, who played at three colleges and has been with six NFL teams, kicked in four games for the Vikings last season.
Romo’s 54-yard field goal gave the Falcons a two-score lead with 11:16 to play.
Romo was first signed by the Saints after the 2022 draft. He spent time with the Saints (2022), Lions (2023), Bears (2023-24), Vikings (2024) and Patriots (2024-25).
Koo missed five kicks in 2022. He missed five kicks in 2023. Then he missed nine kicks in 2024, though Williams was quick to point out that two of those were blocked.
Koo started to slide when he missed three kicks in an exhibition game in Baltimore in 2024.
Koo, 31, led the NFL with 37 made field goals in 2020. He had only two misses that season.
In 2021, he only had two misses as he made 27 of 29 attempts.
He still has the leg. He made his career-long 58-yarder to beat the Saints 26-24 on Sept. 29 last season.
In the opener against the Bucs, the Falcons didn’t send him out to try a 58-yarder after their second offensive possession stalled at Tampa Bay’s 41.
Koo didn’t speak to the media after the game against the Bucs. He did face the media on Monday, Sept. 8, but seemed to blame the turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for his woes.
“Throughout the game with that turf, I was kind of hitting the ground a little bit,” Koo said. “So, I tried to make an adjustment, which I have done multiple times. Just made the wrong kind of adjustment at that time. I know what to do, but it’s just frustrating because I know better than that. I just got to do a better job there.”
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