Broncos coach Sean Payton said kicker Wil Lutz has the potential to be a “great one down the road.”

And you better believe that is his goal.

After missing an extra point and a 55-yard field goal in his Denver debut Sept. 10, Lutz has been spotless, having a streak of 12 straight field goals and 12 extra points made. In Sunday’s 19-17 win over Green Bay at Empower Field at Mile High, Lutz made all four of his field-goal attempts, including a 52-yarder with 3:50 that concluded the scoring.

Lutz on Wednesday has a shot to be named AFC special teams player of the week. And down the road he is thinking of much bigger NFL honors.

“I think everybody in this sport plays the game because they want to be etched in history at some point,’’ Lutz said when asked about Payton’s “great” quote. “You don’t play to be decent. Sean didn’t bring me here to be decent. I appreciate him saying all those things and the support means a lot but at the end of the day it’s my job to try to live up to that. … It’s one game, one season at a time, but my goal is to be up on the list of one of the best to do it.”

Lutz, 29, is in his seventh NFL season, the first six with New Orleans and excluding 2021, when he sat out with a groin injury. He was beaten out on the Saints during the preseason by rookie Blake Grupe and traded for a 2024 seventh-round pick to Denver, where he was reunited with Payton, his former coach.

Lutz’s agent John Perla told The Denver Gazette after the trade that the Saints made a “poor decision,” and he called Lutz the “better player” of the two. So far, Lutz has made 12 of 13 field-goal attempts, including 2 of 3 from 50 yards or more, to Grupe hitting 16 of 20 field goals, including 3 of 5 from 50 or beyond.

The other long boot Lutz has made this season was a 51-yarder with 1:46 remaining for a 31-28 win at Chicago on Oct. 1.

“There’s talent,’’ said Payton, who had Lutz with Saints from 2016-20 and also when he was on injured reserve in 2021. “You see that. “There’s leg talent, right? Then there’s the stuff between the ears that’s so important. There’s a confidence level and from having experienced it before with him.”

Lutz made the Pro Bowl for the Saints in 2019 and had another strong season in 2020. He made just 23 of 31 field-goal attempts last year but said that was related to still working his way back from his 2021 injury.

Then he started off this season with a tough outing.

“Obviously, no one wants to be a negative part of a game at any position, right?’’ Lutz said. “And I think the hardest part at my position is the mental side of bouncing back from the start we had. My goal is to affect every game in a positive way.”

Lutz has been doing that plenty since he was a junior at Northgate High School in Newnan, Ga., and played football for the first time. Before then, he had played soccer since he was 3 and said his “goal in life was to be a professional soccer player.”

As it turned out, Lutz said he “didn’t want to do all the conditioning” required to reach that goal. He “fell in love with the game of football” and realized he had a better future there.

Lutz earned a scholarship to Georgia State and kicked well there. He then was signed by Baltimore as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

There was no way Lutz was going to beat out Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who is bound for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But Lutz looked good enough during the competition that Baltimore coach John Harbaugh recommended Lutz to Payton’s Saints after he was waived.

“He told me, ‘I think this guy’s got all those traits,’’’ Payton said. “That was a little bit of a leap of faith and a gut (instinct) there, and Wil responded.”

Now Payton is reunited with Lutz but it was an adventurous road to get to that point. After Payton took over in Denver in February, incumbent kicker Brandon McManus was released in May and the Broncos brought in Elliott Fry and Brett Maher for looks before they traded for Lutz on Aug. 29.

“Thankfully, Sean brought me to New Orleans (in 2016) and now to Denver,’’ Lutz said. “I’m very grateful for Sean and our relationship. I’ve been fortunate to make a lot of big kicks for Sean Payton-coached teams and Sean has seen me go through the ups and downs that every position goes through, and he’s kind of stuck with me throughout all that.”

Now, Payton is talking about possible greatness for Lutz. Some more game-winning kicks from 50-plus yards could make it happen.