The Green Bay Packers’ two biggest grievances this offseason were backup quarterback and kicker. Both positions had uninspiring competitions throughout the summer, and neither battle resulted in a concrete answer.
Instead, the Packers turned to the Volunteer State to solve their biggest issues. One day after trading for Tennessee Titans quarterback Malik Willis, Brian Gutekunst claimed former Titans kicker Brayden Narveson. Green Bay’s new kicker is a UDFA by way of NC State, Western Kentucky, and Iowa State who had a solid preseason but didn’t beat out veteran Nick Folk.
Green Bay released incumbent kicker Anders Carlson before final cuts. They brought in veteran Greg Joseph to compete with Carlson, and he made the initial 53-man roster. However, the Packers released him after they claimed Narveson.
Gutekunst confirmed that Narveson is the team’s kicker and will make his public debut next week in Brazil.
Let’s get to know the newest Packer placekicker.
Narveson went undrafted in 2024 but quickly signed with the Titans, where he challenged Folk for the starting job. As a collegiate kicker, Narveson showed some nice things in his previous stops. He was perfect on extra points, never missing any of his 196 attempts. He also had a 78% success rate on field goal attempts.
For context, Carlson’s college stats included a 98.3% success rate on extra points and 71.8% on field goals.
Narveson’s first preseason was effective, leading him to become someone Packers fans monitored in case he became available. He went 6/7 on his field goal attempts, with his lone miss being a 58-yarder. However, that miss, which was short, was almost returned for a touchdown.
However, distance isn’t a significant concern. Narveson made a long of 59 yards against the Seattle Seahawks in the preseason finale. He also made three field goals in the fourth quarter of that game, including a 46-yard game winner, showing that the young kicker has a clutch gene. Narveson also made every extra point he attempted, which is a nice upgrade for Green Bay after Carlson led the league in missed extra points last season with five.
Gutekunst was impressed with Narveson and mentioned he’d been following him coming out of college. During his media availability on Wednesday, Gutekunst said they’d scouted Narveson and were impressed with his preseason. The Packers monitored the league for kickers all summer and wanted to give Narveson a chance.
Gutekunst confirmed Narveson will be the team’s kicker, with Alex Hale on the practice squad as the backup. Carlson and Joseph will not return to the practice squad.
Signing Narveson keeps Green Bay’s streak of carrying a UDFA on the 53-man roster for Week 1, though Narveson wasn’t on the initial 53.
Regarding Carlson, Gutekunst admitted that he probably isn’t as patient with specialists as he could be. His predecessor, Ted Thompson, stood by Mason Crosby during his down years while Gutekunst moved on from multiple specialists. In particular, former punter J,K. Scott has developed into a quality punter since Green Bay released him.
But Gutekunst also said the team needs to win games now, and he found an avenue to get better at the position.
He said Carlson didn’t lose the job because of his missed 32-yard attempt against the Baltimore Ravens last week. Instead, it was the larger body of work. He still believes Carlson can be a successful NFL kicker, but it will take time.
Matt LaFleur called going into Week 1 with a brand-new kicker “uncharted territory” and said Rich Bisaccia will need to get Narveson ready to go. LaFleur admitted the uncertainty of a new kicker could affect his playcalling, especially in fourth-down situations.
“Absolutely. 100%,” LaFleur said on Wednesday. “No different than when you go out and there’s inclement weather.”
Narveson will need time to work with the kicking operation and get to know his punter and long snapper. Narveson is still an unknown quantity in the NFL. The move for an unproven kicker may not have stopped fans from feeling uneasy about the kicking situation, but there is reason for optimism.
Carlson was always more of a developmental prospect, and it’s difficult to stick with a developmental kicker in the NFL. Narveson had much better numbers in college; his extra-point streak is particularly noteworthy. Narveson got opportunities to showcase that he could handle distance and show up when it mattered, and he did both.
It’s uncomfortable going into a season where the Packers are Super Bowl hopefuls with a rookie kicker, but good kickers are hard to find. It would be neat if they did. The team must take risks, especially when most of the league already possesses the proven ones. Narveson has big cleats to fill after years of success with Mason Crosby, but he deserves a fair chance to prove himself.
