The Green Bay Packers replaced future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers rather seamlessly with current starter Jordan Love, but they have had a harder time replacing the franchise's all-time leading scorer, kicker Mason Crosby.
That's why Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst signed free agent kicker Brandon McManus after a workout, the team announced Wednesday. He will immediately become the Packers kicker, as the club released the struggling Brayden Narveson. The Packers (4-2) have a huge showdown with the Texans (5-1) on Sunday afternoon.
The 2024 season will be the 33-year-old McManus' 11th NFL season after nine with the Denver Broncos to start his career from 2014-2022 and last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was the kicker for the Broncos' Super Bowl 50 championship team in the 2015 season. His 253 made field goals ranks as the fourth-most in the NFL from 2014-2023, trailing only Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (327), Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein (280) and Cardinals kicker Matt Prater (259) in the span of his career. McManus is 208 for 229 on field goals under 50 yards in his 10-year career for a field goal percentage of 90.8%.
The Washington Commanders signed him to a one-year deal in March, but they cut him in June after he was the subject of a lawsuit that alleged sexual assault. McManus will be eligible to play for the Packers immediately after a league investigation found insufficient evidence to support a violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy.
"For us, really obviously, he wouldn't be available right now if those accusations weren't out there, but I think the league did a thorough investigation," Gutekunst said, via The Athletic, on Wednesday. "We leaned on that as we went through it. Sure, our investigation was really linked with that. At the same time obviously with every acquisition we make we have to go through those things."
Crosby's initial successor was Anders Carlson, a 2023 sixth-round pick who made 27 of his 33 field goals as a rookie but was released during final roster cuts this past summer. Green Bay claimed former Tennessee Titans kicker Brayden Narveson off of waivers following the preseason, and the undrafted free agent's 70.6% field goal percentage (12-for-17) this regular season ranked as the second-lowest in the NFL through six weeks, ahead of only Zeurlein's 66.7% figure (8-for-12).
The big difference the Packers should see in going to McManus is accuracy under 50 yards. The 33-year-old's 90.8% field goal percentage under 50 yards is an improvement from both Carlson's 85.7% (24-28) and Narveson's 70.6% clip (12-17). Green Bay didn't trust Narveson to attempt a field goal of 50 yards or deeper in the first six weeks of the 2024 season.