The Green Bay Packers are a rare breed. They’re the youngest team in the NFL (an award they’ve earned for the third straight year), yet they’re built to win right now.
That’s the result of an intentional roster-building strategy from general manager Brian Gutekunst and the front office. They’ve hit on several draft picks over the last few seasons, staying rooted in their draft-and-develop approach.
But they’ve also made key outside acquisitions such as Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney, and Micah Parsons. Usually, when the Packers bring in a player, it’s someone in their mid-20s with their best football still ahead of them.
One of the few exceptions to that philosophy is kicker Brandon McManus, who is already showing why the Packers handed him $15 million this offseason despite turning 34 before the season began.
Packers' Investment in Brandon McManus Paying Off So Far
The three-year, $15.1 million contract McManus signed came after he made 20 of his 21 field goal attempts last year for Green Bay (95.2 percent) and all 31 of his extra points.
He counts $3.5 million against the cap in 2025, $5.4 million in 2026, and $6.3 million in 2027. However, the Packers could move on from him with relative ease in his final season if his play begins to slip.
Fortunately for Green Bay, he’s off to a great start through two games this season, connecting on four of his five field goal attempts (his lone miss clanging off the right upright) and drilling all six of his extra points.
After Green Bay chose not to re-sign Mason Crosby following the 2022 campaign, they spent two years struggling to find a kicker they could rely on. They cycled through the anxiety-producing experiences of Brayden Narveson and Anders Carlson before signing McManus one month into the 2024 season.
Not having a kicker is sort of like having a sore throat. Swallowing is such a natural, everyday action that you don’t think about it—until you suddenly can’t do it without pain. Then every swallow, thousands of times a day, becomes a miserable reminder of what used to come so easily.
That’s how the Packers felt every time Carlson or Narveson jogged onto the field to attempt a kick. What was once an automatic part of the game suddenly turned into an exercise in pain and dread.
With McManus, the ailment is gone. The irritation has been soothed, the pain subsides, and kicking is once again a routine that no one has to think twice about.
Green Bay finally has its remedy—and $15 million looks like a fair price to pay for the cure.