6 Packers Already on the Chopping Block Before OTAs

6. Anders Carlson, K

Kickers are people too.

And kickers are also not exempt from being on the chopping block, even the kickers that get drafted.

Anders Carlson was a sixth-round pick by the Packers last year. It's a dangerous game to play, drafting a kicker. You almost put the same pressure on a kicker or punter by drafting them at all as you do placing a first-round label on a quarterback. There is just a certain level of expectation that comes from being drafted at this position, especially the higher the pick ends up being.

A sixth-round investment in a kicker is pretty substantial, and Carlson was perfect through the first handful of games last season. And then the wheels slowly started to come off. It started on a road trip to Denver where Carlson missed a kick in a two-point loss. It spiraled out of control by the end of the season when a missed kick against the 49ers ultimately allowed the 49ers to take a lead late in the fourth quarter and send the Packers...packing.

The Packers signed veteran kicker Greg Joseph this offseason and they also brought in Jack Podlesny, the 2022 SEC special teams player of the year. The message to Anders Carlson -- who missed six field goals and five extra points last year -- is clear.

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