Packers Kicker Carousel Left Two Recent Names In Very Different Spots

The Green Bay Packers' quest to find a stable kicker since Mason Crosby's departure highlights the career trajectories of several former kickers who are no longer in the NFL.

The Packers’ kicker carousel has turned so often in recent years that it’s become hard to keep track of who was here, who was gone and who might still be kicking somewhere else in the league.

From 2023 through 2025, Green Bay has used four kickers in regular-season games. That’s a stark break from the previous stretch, when the Packers had one kicker handle every game from 2007 through 2022: Mason Crosby, the model of steadiness.

Green Bay has kept searching for the next long-term answer, and the results have been all over the map. Anders Carlson got the first shot and lasted one season.

Brayden Narveson followed and didn’t stick. Brandon McManus brought veteran credibility and a Super Bowl ring, but his time eventually ran out.

Even Lucas Havrisik, who delivered the longest field goal in franchise history, couldn’t hold the job.

Now the Packers are trying again with Trey Smack, the kicker they drafted this spring. The Florida product opened the preseason by going 3-for-3 on field goals against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As Green Bay keeps digging for stability, here’s where those recent ex-kickers are now:

Anders Carlson was a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft after the Packers moved on from Crosby. His first season was rough - no kicker had more misses in the NFL that year, and he also missed a field goal in the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Green Bay brought in competition the following offseason, and by the end of the 2024 training camp, Carlson was gone.

He spent the 2024 season with the 49ers and New York Jets, signed with the Jets in 2025, and was cut before training camp last season. Carlson, now 28, kicked this spring for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League, splitting duties with another kicker and going 6-for-9 on field goals.

Brayden Narveson didn’t last long either. The Packers signed him after cutting Carlson ahead of the 2024 season, and the undrafted rookie had originally been in Titans camp.

Green Bay liked his leg strength, but the fit fell apart fast. He made only 70% of his field goals and was gone after six games.

Narveson later tried the Canadian Football League in 2025, but he didn’t make the Edmonton Elks’ roster. He hasn’t kicked anywhere since, and he turns 27 next month.

McManus looked like the safe bet when the Packers signed him before a Week 7 game. He was 33 at the time and brought 10 years of NFL experience along with a Super Bowl title.

The move paid off immediately: he hit game-winning field goals in each of his first two games. Over the season, he made 20 of 21 field goals, and Green Bay rewarded him with a three-year extension.

Then came the downturn. McManus battled an injury during the regular season and missed three kicks - two field goals and an extra point - in a four-point playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.

After the Packers drafted Smack, they cut McManus following this year’s draft. He is not on an NFL roster in training camp.

Havrisik’s run was shorter, but he got the job done while he was there. Signed off the street last season to replace the injured McManus, he made a franchise-record 61-yard field goal and opened with a clean first two games: 4-for-4 on field goals and 6-for-6 on extra points.

The third game was tougher. He missed two extra points in difficult conditions, and once McManus returned, Havrisik was moved to the practice squad.

Even after the Packers drafted Smack, it looked as if Havrisik might return for camp competition, but Green Bay cut him in July before training camp. He hasn’t signed with a team this preseason and turns 27 on Sept.

There’s also Greg Joseph, who joined the Packers in 2024 to compete with Carlson in training camp. He appeared in multiple preseason games before Green Bay cut both kickers at the end of camp.

Joseph later kicked for the New York Giants, Washington Commanders and New York Jets during the 2024 season, but he hasn’t kicked in the NFL since. He’s now 32.

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