GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made it clear that he hoped the team would re-sign kicker Brandon McManus.
“Yeah, we’d love to,” he said last week at the Scouting Combine. “We’re working towards that end. We’ll see where that goes.”
Where it went, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, is a three-year contract worth $15.3 million and including a $5 million signing bonus. The deal prevents McManus from reaching free agency next week and will allow the Packers to get off the young kicker merry-go-round.
The Packers and kicker Brandon McManus reached agreement today on a three-year, $15.3 million deal, including a $5 million signing bonus. The deal was negotiated by Drew and Jason Rosenhaus. pic.twitter.com/T8zp60cqd8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 4, 2025
The Packers started the season with rookie Brayden Narveson as their kicker. After he made just 12-of-17 field-goal attempts, he was released after a Week 6 victory over the Cardinals in which he missed a field goal for the fourth time in six games.
With the NFL opting not to suspend McManus after off-the-field allegations, the Packers signed McManus before the Week 7 home game against the Houston Texans. McManus made a walk-off field goal to win that game and finished the season 20-of-21 on field goals, his 95.2 percent marksmanship ranking second in the NFL.
His success came on the heels of Anders Carlson, the hand-picked successor to Mason Crosby, ranking 23rd of 31 in field-goal accuracy in 2023.
“We would” want McManus back for 2025, Gutekunst said after the season. “Had a good conversation with him before he left. Obviously, and you guys know this, how he solidified that journey we were going on. Obviously, he’s a veteran guy.
“I think the thing that was so neat about being around him is not only his confidence but his ability to adjust no matter where we were. Really, our specialists group with Matt (Orzech) and Daniel (Whelan) and if we were able to get Brandon back, I think certainly that would make me feel very, very, very good about that group.”
McManus made his final 15 field-goal attempts of the regular season before missing in the playoff loss to the Eagles. Still, among all kickers in Packers history with at least 20 field-goal attempts, his 95.2 percent is the best ever.
“What he’s brought is 12 years of experience of playing at an extremely high level, especially inside of 50 yards,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said late in the season. “He has a great sense of confidence. He’s very particular, knows what he wants. It’s made it extremely easy for Daniel to get better and improve at holding the football because of the way he wants it held, where he wants the laces.
“The other thing for (Brandon) is he’s really just kicking into high gear. He didn’t play early in the year. He was kicking in some park somewhere where he was to get through the issues he had to get through, but now that he’s been here, practices have been really consistent for him and I think he’s gotten better and better and better.”
McManus became the first kicker in NFL history to make a game-winning field goal on the final play of his first two games, with a chip-shot winning the game at Jacksonville. And he became the first kicker in Packers history to make a pair of field goals of 55-plus yards in a season at Lambeau Field, including his 55-yard, go-ahead kick against Chicago in Week 18.
Since entering the NFL in 2014, McManus ranked third in field goals, field goals of 50-plus yards and points. However, as the 2024 season opened, he faced an uncertain future. That meant he had to get creative to stay sharp.
“There’s three different places I kicked at,” McManus said. “One of them, I was just kicking at a light post.”
The only spectators were his 5-year-old twins and 4-year-old son. A few days later, 78,197 fans at Lambeau Field watched him kick a 45-yard, game-winning field goal against the Texans.
Brandon McManus isn't going anywhere
pic.twitter.com/vx4qhaU9F9— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) March 4, 2025
He celebrated with a Lambeau Leap.
“Not good. Not good,” he said of his Leap. “I had always heard it was taller than you think. This is an historic, historic place. Super-excited to come play here, and to have a chance to hit the game-winner in Game 1, I knew I had to do it.”
McManus made the kick despite a bad snap.
“You get a lot of morale in every situation,” running back Josh Jacobs said. “Even if it’s before halftime or it’s whatever, you always feel like he’s going to make it. That’s how it was. Previously, we always knew. It was never a questionable thing. I know the history here in big games with kickers (and) kind of missing a lot. To be able to see him pull it off is definitely amazing for him.”
Late in the season, McManus said he hoped he’d return to Green Bay, which gave him his first playoff experience since winning the Super Bowl with the Broncos a decade earlier.
“When I got the call to come here to Green Bay, I was super-excited,” he said. “It’s been 10 years since I’ve been back in the playoffs, so I would love to help with some unfinished business here with this team.
“Whatever happens after that, I’m excited for the next chapter. It’s been great. My wife and kids enjoyed coming up here and experiencing it. I keep saying how nostalgic this city is and this area is, so it’s been awesome being part of it.”
