Smack That: Green Bay’s New Kicker Is Here To Take McManus’ Job

The Green Bay Packers drafted a kicker!

Drafting specialists is always a hot topic among a fanbase. Some think it’s a foolish pursuit, because teams can find quality specialists in undrafted free agency or out on the street. Some think that if you have the chance to get the best player at that position in a particular draft, then it’s worth the late-round flyer.

Brian Gutekunst is clearly among the latter. He used a sixth-round pick on Florida kicker Trey Smack and traded up for the rights to draft him. The Packers sent two seventh-round picks (236 and 255) to the Seahawks for pick No. 216, which they used on Smack. The trade suggested they view Smack as their long-term kicker. It also indicates that Brandon McManus might not be in Green Bay for much longer.

Trey Smack is only the fourth kicker the Packers have drafted in the last 36 years, joining Brett Conway (1997), Mason Crosby (2007), and Anders Carlson (2023). The Packers hope Smack ends up like Crosby and not the other two (please no).

The 6’1”, 188 lb. Smack is coming into Green Bay with some impressive collegiate numbers. He connected on 53 out of 64 field goals (82.8%) at Florida, including a school-record 10 made from beyond 50 yards on only 13 tries (77%). He’s also coming into Green Bay having missed only one – yes, one – extra point in his career. He was 100 for 101 on extra point attempts in his three seasons at Florida.

Smack’s consistency might be his best attribute. The two-time All-SEC kicker made at least 80% of his field goals in all three seasons at Gainesville. If the Packers are seeking anything from their new kicker, it’s consistency, because McManus was anything but that last year. He battled injuries, missing a handful of games midseason, and was not the same guy who saved Green Bay’s kicking game the year before.

The veteran McManus went 24 for 30 on field goal attempts (80%) and 32 of 33 on extra points. That doesn’t sound all that bad. However, he was 32nd in field goal percentage last year, and his 2024 percentage was 95.2%, a decline of over 15%. I’m sure the quad injury had something to do with it, but he insisted he was healthy enough to kick.

Those misses, especially the extra point, also came at the worst possible time for Green Bay. During the playoff game in Chicago, McManus missed three total kicks, removing seven points off the board for the Packers. He missed field goals of 55 and 44 yards, and an extra point.

McManus now has the unfortunate honor of being the first kicker to miss two fourth-quarter kicks in a playoff game since 2007. He also missed a kick in the Wild Card playoff game the year before in Philadelphia. While that didn’t alter the game like the misses against the Chicago Bears did, the Packers cannot have much faith in him at this point that he will make kicks when it matters.

Trey Smack is going to come in on Day 1 and take the job from McManus. Teams don’t draft kickers in the sixth round just to turn around and cut them after a summer.

It seemed that the Packers were all set to move forward with McManus after they paid him a $1 million roster bonus in March. Still, the Packers paid over half a million dollars for two games of Trevon Diggs, so it’s a small amount to pay for the peace of mind having an incumbent kicker probably gave them. If Smack can showcase the same leg that he did at Florida, then it will probably be a pretty easy decision for the Packers to move on from McManus.

Lucas Havrisik is also still under contract, but I would be surprised if the Packers went into camp with three kickers on the roster. They held on to Havrisik for the duration of the 2025 season, between stints on the active roster and the practice squad, even after McManus returned and was ready to go.

Maybe the team holds on to both in the hope of finding a trade partner for either. At the end of every camp, teams churn through kickers who underperform during preseason. If the Packers have two proven options, some team may throw a late-round pick at them. Maybe they just straight-up release McManus and try to stash Harvrisik on the practice squad in case of emergency.

Either way, it's clear that Trey Smack is this team’s new kicker. The kicking game in the NFL is more important than ever before; the UFL is now rewarding 60-plus-yarders with four points. Doubtful that he ever makes it to the NFL, but maybe someday, as professional kickers are better than ever before. Sixty yards is the new fifty yards, so teams need that weapon in their arsenal to deploy if a drive stalls. McManus hit just one kick last season over 50 yards. He had a comical miss in the Monday night game against the Philadelphia Eagles that would have tied it and sent it to overtime. Does Smack make that?

Who knows, but I’m definitely willing to find out.