Well, looks like there won’t be a kicking battle in training camp after all.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Packers have released kicker Brandon McManus, ending his tenure with the team after two seasons.
McManus was on thin ice after ending the season with his worst game of 2025, missing a PAT and two field goals in the Pcakers’ season-ending loss to the Chicago Bears in the playoffs. The Packers elected to pay McManus a $1 million roster bonus in March, but then traded up to select
Florida kicker Trey Smack in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, essentially putting McManus on notice.
Brian Gutekunst characterized the move for Smack as adding competition to his specialist room, but that was a tenuous proposition, at best. Smack’s entire rookie contract will cost the Packers less on the cap than McManus would have this year alone, and they now recoup some cap space for this year.
McManus joined the Packers midway through the 2024 season after resolving a civil suit stemming from his time with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He quickly made an impact, booting a 45-yard game-winning field goal against the Houston Texans in his first game with the team. He’d convert a career high 95.2% of his kicks (20 of 21) in the regular season, stabilizing the Packers’ kicker job after several years in flux post Mason Crosby.
But in the 2024 playoffs, McManus missed a 38-yard field goal in the Packers’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, setting the stage for his 2025 downturn. He’d sign a three-year, $15.3 million deal after the 2024 season, but the deal was structured in such a way that the Packers could easily get out after a year. They now have.
Kicking through an injury, McManus was nowhere near as good in 2025 as he was in 2024. He made just 24 of 30 attempts in the regular season, then fell apart in the playoffs. It’s worth pointing out that one of his playoff misses would have been a titanic shot for just about anybody; a 55-yard attempt in the cold off the dubious playing surface at Soldier Field is hardly a sure thing. But his other misses played a huge role in the Packers’ untimely demise at the hands of the Bears.
But now the McManus era is over. Welcome to the world of Trey Smack.
