Brandon McManus‘ 2024 partnership with the Packers became mutually beneficial. The team had given the embattled kicker another chance, while the veteran stabilized a kicking situation that had been spotty.
The Packers are making sure that arrangement sticks for more than one season, with ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reporting the sides have a deal in place. McManus agreed to a three-year, $15.3MM deal. The pact comes with a $5MM signing bonus. Green Bay brass had expressed interest in keeping McManus, and after a turbulent 2024, the former Super Bowl-winning kicker has another contract in place.
Last year was not a smooth one for McManus, whose Packers contract comes roughly 51 weeks after a one-year, $3.6MM Commanders agreement. After allegations of sexual assault (stemming from a September 2023 incident during a Jaguars international flight), Washington cut McManus. Two flight attendants accused McManus of sexual assault, leading the Commanders to cut bait. Last September, however, the NFL did not suspend the veteran specialist.
McManus, 33, denied wrongdoing but was hit with a civil suit by the anonymous flight attendants. An accusation of McManus trying to kiss one of the women while she was strapped into her seat emerged, with a separate allegation of the kicker “rubbing himself and grinding against them” led McManus back to free agency in June 2024 coming out of a mess that led to scrutiny into the Jaguars having alcohol on a team plane. The league not taking action led to McManus being given another opportunity. He made the most of it with the Packers.
In his first Packers game, McManus drilled a walk-off 45-yard field goal to lift the team over the Texans. That helped a Packers team that had seen Brayden Narveson struggle in the weeks prior. McManus proceeded to make 20 of 21 field goals to help Green Bay back to the playoffs. After the team made 2023 draftee Anders Carlson a one-and-done as Mason Crosby‘s successor, McManus is now in that chair. And he has some security after an impressive half-season.
Best known for a nine-season stay in Denver, McManus had secured multiple extensions to stay with the Broncos. Released months into Sean Payton‘s HC tenure, McManus caught on with the Jaguars and made 30 of 37 field goals in 2023 — his most recent full season. The Packers will bet on McManus’ career-best 95.2% make rate — after he had never previously cleared 86% — giving them a long-term option.