Green Bay Packers fans opened the offseason, hoping that fixing the special teams unit would be atop general manager Brian Gutekunst's agenda. Although replacing special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia to get the ball rolling would've been enough to appease the Packers faithful, cutting ties with kicker Brandon McManus would've also been a popular move.
Instead, February is here and both McManus and Bisaccia are still with Green Bay.
Although there's still time to turn the page on the underperforming duo, that seems unlikely after Gutekunst's latest comments. According to USA TODAY's Ryan Wood, the Packers' GM has "a lot of faith in Rich (Bisaccia) and his staff and what they do around here, not only the X's and O's but what they bring culturally to this staff."
Based on Gutekunst's confident response, it doesn't sound like Bisaccia is going anywhere this year. And, assuming nothing changes, that likely means that the Packers are on a collision course with another McManus-sized headache.
Packers GM's Rich Bisaccia Support Opens Door to Continue Brandon McManus Problem
Given the faith Bisaccia had in McManus throughout the 2025 season, despite the noticeable flaws, it's safe to say that the Packers' kicking situation won't improve if Gutekunst keeps singing his special teams coordinator's praises.
"I really think over the last four or five years, we've probably put more of an emphasis on it than we ever have (on special teams)," Gutekunst stated, via Jason B. Hirschhorn of The Leap.
If the Packers' GM truly believes that he's done a good job of addressing his team's special team situation, it's hard to imagine any legitimate shifts coming this offseason. If anything, the status quo will likely remain unaltered, and that's bad news for Green Bay's special teams outlook.
After all, last season was one of the worst ones of McManus' 12-year career. The 34-year-old kicker saw his field-goal percentage drop from 95.2 percent (20-of-21) in 2024 to an abysmal 80.0 percent (24-of-30) in 2025. He also missed two of his five attempts from 50-plus yards, which is concerning after hitting all three attempts from that distance in his first Packers season.
McManus' inaccuracy on field goal attempts wasn't the only thing he did that frustrated Green Bay fans. The former Temple Owl also had issues with kickoffs, as his average kicks returned rose from 54.7 percent to 77.0 percent, per Pro Football Focus. Unfortunately, this led to 1,465 return yards by opponents on his attempts, which were more than the two previous seasons combined (1,343).
McManus still has two years left on his contract, and he'll need to step up if he hopes to keep having Bisaccia & Co. on his side. The Packers could move on from the veteran special teamer with a post-June 1 cut that'd net $3.6 million in salary cap savings, according to Spotrac; however, the team's confidence in him suggests that he'll at least get to prove himself in training camp before a divorce is discussed.
The Packers did sign fellow K Lucas Havrisik to a futures contract last month, meaning fans may be treated to an encore performance of the 2025 mid-season kicking competition.
Although it is respectable to see a coach go to bat for his player, just like with everything, there's a limit to how far things should go. If McManus' struggles reemerge this offseason and it doesn't look like a turnaround is on the horizon, the Packers might have to bite the bullet and consider finding a replacement before the offseason is over.