The Green Bay Packers made a bit of a surprise move this week, ending any speculation of a kicking competition by releasing veteran Brandon McManus. It was an understandable decision, but one made at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. Green Bay waited until well after free agency and this year's draft class, opting to give Trey Smack time to come in and give the team a level of confidence that they had their kicker of the future.
It is an understandable in theory, but completely wrong on two counts. The first is the fact that it accepted the failure of McManus in the playoffs, which included three missed kicks in an epic playoff collapse to the Chicago Bears. Green Bay was in complete control of this game and opted not to part ways with McManus while extending head coach Matt LaFleur, showing zero accountability for the most epic of failures.
McManus deserved to be cut at this moment if the Packers were going to make the decision to close the door on the kicker. This signals a level of accountability and a willingness to make a tough decision that shows you do not accept failure.
Green Bay would then have the luxury of the full offseason to evaluate its options at the position and search both free agency and the draft for answers. While Smack is an exciting addition, the rookie isn't proven and would've benefited from facing a battle at the position.
Packers Badly Mismanaged Exit of Veteran Kicker Brandon McManus
This brings us to the second point of the mismanagement, and that is not giving McManus a fair chance to find a new landing spot. This is in no way to defend the veteran's failures or to say the release wasn't deserved after the level of failure that was accomplished in the playoff collapse.
However, the kicker is still a respected player who has made huge kicks throughout his career. As an organization, it would've been the correct decision to cut the kicker not only instantly after the failure based on accountability, but based on mutual respect. Cutting McManus at the end of the postseason would've at least allowed the veteran a chance to find a spot to compete for a roster spot.
Waiting this deep into the offseason makes it incredibly difficult for McManus to have a viable chance at making a roster and putting his career back on track. Even when holding a player accountable for failure, there should be a level of respect for their career prospects moving forward.
No question, this decision was mismanaged on all fronts and pushes the team's front office into question in the middle of an underwhelming offseason. Even if McManus deserved to be pushed off the roster, the timing wasn't right for the Packers.
More Green Bay Packers News and Rumors:
Add us as a preferred source on Google