Ex-Broncos kicker McManus signs extension with Packers
Mar 4, 2025, 2:00 PM
Former Broncos kicker Brandon McManus is poised to return to Denver — for at least one game, anyway.
The longtime Bronco agreed to a three-year extension with the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday, per a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Packers are on the Broncos’ home schedule for the upcoming season.
The contract comes on the heels of McManus’ successful 12-game run with the Packers to close the 2024 season, during which he hit 21 of 23 field-goal attempts, including a 20-of-21 run during the final 11 games of the regular season.
McManus joined the Packers in Week 7 after starting the season out of football after being released by the Washington Commanders during the offseason.
Washington released him after he was sued by two flight attendants who worked aboard the Jacksonville Jaguars team charter during the 2023 season, accusing him of sexual assault.
McManus spent the 2023 season with the Jaguars, who claimed him off waivers after the Broncos released him in May 2023.
But the NFL chose not to discipline McManus, citing “insufficient evidence.”
The attorney representing the two women who made the allegations countered that notion, telling ESPN in September that the NFL “hasn’t yet spoken with our clients so I’m a bit confused as to why anyone could conclude that at this point.”
The NFL’s decision to clear McManus opened the door for a return, and the Packers brought him aboard after rookie Brayden Narveson struggled.
McManus immediately improved Green Bay’s kicking fortunes, which had waned since the team cut former CU Buffs great Mason Crosby after the 2022 season.
The veteran of 12 NFL seasons drilled a game-winning 45-yard field goal as time expired in his first game as a Packer to defeat the Houston Texans and flourished from there.
Meanwhile, the Broncos have no complaints since moving on from McManus.
After a kicking competition during training camp between Brett Maher and Elliott Fry, the Broncos eventually parted ways with both and acquired Wil Lutz from the New Orleans Saints.
Lutz ranks ninth among 38 NFL kickers in field-goal percentage over the last two seasons (minimum 20 attempts), hitting 89.7 percent of his tries. That also makes him the most accurate kicker in Broncos history with at least 20 field-goal attempts.
