Brandon McManus, the Broncos' kicker since 2014 and the last-remaining player from Denver's Super Bowl 50 championship team, has been released by the club. McManus shared the news himself via Twitter on Tuesday morning.
The 31-year-old kicker enjoyed a successful nine-year run in Denver. During that time, the former Temple Owl made 81.4% of his field goals and 96.9% of his point-after attempts in 144 regular season games. He made each of his 10 field goal attempts during the 2015 playoffs that included three field goals in Denver's 24-10 win over Carolina in Super Bowl 50.
McManus started that playoff run by drilling five field goals in the Broncos' 23-16 over the Steelers in the AFC divisional round. McManus also made each of his three point-after attempts during the Broncos' most recent postseason.
The 2022 season was not McManus' best, however. He made 77.8% of his field goal attempts, his lowest percentage since 2017. He made each of his field goal attempts from 40-49 yards but was 8 of 13 on field goal attempts of at least 50 yards. McManus' 92.65% accuracy on point-after attempts marked the second-lowest percentage of his career.
Denver currently has no other kicker on its roster, so expect it to move quickly to replace McManus. As far as McManus is concerned, it probably won't take too long for him to find his next NFL home.
One team that quickly came to mind is the Dallas Cowboys, who have been open about their desire to find a solution at kicker after they chose not to re-sign Brett Maher, who missed five point-after attempts in Dallas' two playoff games this past January.
Dallas currently has Tristan Vizcaino in line to be its starting kicker entering training camp. The 26-year-old Vizcaino has previously played for the 49ers, Chargers, Cardinals and Patriots. He's made 91.7% of his field goal attempts but just 75% of his point-after attempts in 10 regular season games.
Rest assured that the Cowboys will bring in veterans to compete with Vizcaino this summer. That list of veterans may include McManus, who has regular and postseason experience to boot.
