The Green Bay Packers continued to lock up potential free agents ahead of the start of the new league year next week. On Tuesday, GM Brian Gutekunst announced that the team had re-signed kicker Brandon McManus to a new three-year contract worth a reported $15.3. That figure included a signing bonus of $5 million. Here is what the signing of another key potential free agent means for the Packers:
The Packers Re-Signed Another Key Potential Free Agent in Brandon McManus: The Packers Kicking Problems
The Packers had a reliable kicker for a long time. Mason Crosby joined the team in 2007 and gave the team a consistent performance until he and the team parted ways after the 2022 campaign.
Crosby became the team’s all-time leading scorer with 1,918 points, comfortably ahead of second place Ryan Longwell who has 1,054.
In 2023, Gutekunst selected Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the NFL Draft to replace Crosby. Unfortunately, Carlson struggled and led the NFL in missed kicks in his rookie season. He was never able to establish himself as a consistent and reliable kicker. As a result, Gutekunst brought in competition for him after the 2023 season ended.
Unfortunately for the Packers, none of the roughly half dozen candidates impressed head coach Matt LaFleur or special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia enough to win the job after training camp ended. So, the Packers signed Brayden Narveson who had just been released by the Tennessee Titans.
Narveson also struggled and the missed five field goals in the six games that he played for Green Bay. The Packers released him because of his lack of reliability, and they signed McManus.
McManus Arrives
McManus wasted little time making an impact with the Packers. He kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired in each of his first two games with the Packers. McManus connected on a 45-yard field goal to beat the Texans and then a 24-yarder a week later to top the Jaguars.
For the season, McManus was almost perfect. He made all 30 of his extra point attempts and 20-of-21 field goals. His only miss came on a windy, rainy game at Lambeau Field against the Lions where the wind just made the ball stop in mid-air. He made all three of his tries from 50-or-more yards for the season and remained accurate in the cold and windy late-season conditions in Green Bay.
Gutekunst was impressed by the job that McManus did for the Packers. After the season ended, he told reporters, “Obviously, how he solidified that journey [at kicker] we were going on. He’s a veteran guy. The thing that was so neat about being around him was not only his confidence, but his ability to adjust, no matter where we were, what weather we had,” Gutekunst said.
But, until Tuesday, the Packers faced the risk of losing McManus in free agency.
The Packers Re-Signed Another Key Potential Free Agent in Brandon McManus: Looking Ahead
McManus will turn 34 in July which is still not old for an NFL kicker. If he remains with the Packers for the duration of this contract, He will be 37. By comparison, Crosby turned 38 early in his final season with the Packers.
If McManus hadn’t been signed by the Packers and provided them with a reliable kicker, they likely would not have made the playoffs this past season.
The impact of the signing can perhaps best be described by LaFleur when he was asked during the season about his feelings about McManus after seeing him kick for a few months. “I don’t even really watch it all the time now,” LaFleur said when asked what he does when McManus lines up to kick. “I just kind of move on to the next thing.”
The Packers have also moved on to the next thing as they crossed kicker off their list of needs for the foreseeable future. Now, Gutekunst can concentrate on improving the team at other positions of need like cornerback, defensive and offensive line and wide receiver.