The Green Bay Packers took an unusual route to find their starting kicker for the 2024 NFL season. Ever since the team decided to move on from Mason Crosby after the 2022 season, a year that saw him make 86.2% of his field goal and 94.9% of his extra point tries, the kicker position has been a complete and utter mess.
Instead of re-signing the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Green Bay decided to select Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. It was a decision that go on to haunt the Packers all season long.
Carlson made 81.8% of his field goal and just 87.2% of his extra point attempts. Late in the season, Carlson went on an unfortunate run in which he missed at least one kick in 10 of 12 games, which included both of Green Bay’s playoff games.
He missed a field goal, for example, in the Packers’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Divisional Round, a game that Green Bay lost by three points.
The Green Bay Packers Brought in Competition for Anders Carlson
Due to Carlson’s disappointing 2023 season, the Packers brought in numerous kickers to compete with him for the starting job in 2024. The most notable of these was former Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph.
Carson and Joseph battled all offseason and preseason, with neither kicker putting himself in a clear position in win the job. Both showed the potential to make booming kicks, but both also had multiple days in which they struggled.
The lack of consistency from both Carlson and Joseph proved that neither was reliable enough to be the Packers’ kicker in 2024. When the team released their initial 53-man roster, Carlson was released and Joseph kept on.
However, that would not be the case for long.
The Green Bay Packers Signed Brayden Narveson Off of Waivers from the Tennessee Titans
Aug 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans place kicker Brayden Narveson (47) kicks a field goal in the fourth quarter of the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Casey Gower-USA TODAY Sports
The day after the initial roster came out, the Packers were awarded their waiver claim of Brayden Narvenson, an undrafted free agent kicker who had been released by the Tennessee Titans. With Nick Folk entrenched as their kicker, the Titans simply did not have room for Narveson, who made five of his six field goal attempts during the preseason.
His lone miss came from 58 yards out, but he also made a 59-yard field goal.
Perhaps most importantly for the Packers, he has not missed a single extra point attempt since he started his college career. Last season, Carlson missed five.
Green Bay Packers Star Jaire Alexander Is a Big Fan of Brayden Narveson
With training camp concluded, the Packers are no longer holding any more public practices. As such, local media and fans have not had a chance to see Narveson kick in a Green Bay uniform yet.
However, head coach Matt LaFleur told Matt Schneidman of The Athletic that one of their star players, Jaire Alexander, is very impressed with what he saw during practice this week.
“His first kick, it was a 56-yarder into the wind and he nailed it. Jaire actually, after a couple of his kicks, came up to me and he’s like, ‘Man, I love this guy.’ The early returns are very favorable up to this point.”
If Narveson is as good on game day as he seems to be in practice, perhaps Green Bay has finally figured out their kicker position.