Financial limitations and uncertainty surround Mason Crosby’s future with Packers
By Paul Bretl
The only kicker on the Green Bay Packers roster at the moment is Parker White. So when GM Brian Gutekunst was asked on Monday who the team’s kicker was going to be in 2023, he provided an uncertain response.
"“We’ll see. That’s to be determined.”"
When Gutekunst was then asked if Mason Crosby could return, while he didn’t flat out say “no,” he also wasn’t very committal towards that happening either.
"“We’ll never close the door; we’ll see where that goes,” replied Gutekunst. “Mason is the all-time leading scorer in this franchise’s history. He had a good year this past year. We’re limited financially, but we’ll never say never.”"
As Gutey mentioned, Crosby did have a solid 2022 season. He would go on to make 37 of his 39 extra point tries, and 25 of the 29 field goal attempts he had, including only one miss under 50 yards. As we have all seen, it is not easy to find a reliable kicker, and Crosby has, for the most part, provided that in Green Bay for a long time. There is also something to be said for his comfortability kicking in the often harsh Green Bay winters.
Father Time, however, is creeping in. This is evident on kickoffs and long field goal attempts. Of his four misses last season, three came from over 50 yards, with distance being an issue.
On kickoffs, meanwhile, Crosby had the second-highest kick return rate in football at almost 80%, along with the third-fewest touchbacks, according to PFF ($$). There were even two games last season where the Packers elevated Ramiz Ahmed from the practice squad to handle kickoff duties.
At the NFL Combine, Gutekunst would tell reporters that Crosby’s leg strength was impacted by the offseason knee surgery that he had. But it’s not as if his struggles with getting kickoffs to the end zone just began last season, either. Crosby had the most kickoff return attempts in football in 2021 and the fourth-highest return rate.
Money, as Gutekunst alluded to, is also a factor in all of this as well, with Crosby being an unrestricted free agent.
Although the Packers have the sixth-highest available salary cap space at the moment, they clearly lack spending power based on their offseason moves. The $22.08 million that they have available will, at a minimum, be almost cut in half once Aaron Rodgers is traded due to dead cap hitting the 2023 books. There are also other incoming cap hits as well, some of which include the draft class and practice squad signings.
Last season, Crosby’s cap hit of $4.73 million was the sixth-most at the kicker position. For some perspective, Keisean Nixon and his $2.77 million cap hit for 2023 is the highest cap hit that the Packers have taken on this offseason.
Given Crosby’s track record, it’s very possible that he will end up outside of Green Bay’s price range. For some context, the fifth highest-paid kicker, Graham Gano, is earning $4.66 million, and the 10th highest, Harrison Butker, $4.05 million.
On top of that, with Crosby nearing 40 years old and the Packers in a bit of a transition at the moment, beginning to search for their kicker of the future may be the prudent move rather than allocating cap space they don’t have to him.
If the Packers want to add a veteran to compete with White this summer, they’ll have to be salary cap conscious, but a few free agent options include Ryan Succop, Brett Maher, Robbie Gould, and Chase McLaughlin. Some of the top kickers in this year’s draft are Jake Moody, Christopher Dunn, Jack Podlesny, Chad Ryland, and Anders Carlson.