The question surrounding Brandon McManus is not complicated, but it is uncomfortable for the Green Bay Packers.
In the NFL, kicker evaluation is brutally binary: the ball either goes through the uprights or it does not.

And in 2025, too often, it did not.

No one is attempting to reframe McManus’ season as secretly productive.
He attempted 30 or more field goals and converted 80 percent or fewer of them, placing him squarely in a performance tier that historically forces difficult decisions.

Using Pro Football Reference data across the last decade, there have been 32 such seasons where a kicker attempted at least 30 field goals and finished at or below 80 percent.
Five occurred in 2025, including McManus, leaving 27 comparable historical cases to examine.

The results are split.
Fifteen of those kickers were brought back by their teams the following season, signaling organizational patience despite statistical decline.

Some of those bets paid off.
Mason Crosby endured a 73.4 percent season in 2021 yet returned in 2022, aided by contextual factors such as protection breakdowns and holder inconsistencies.

Greg Joseph rebounded marginally after a 78.8 percent year, though his leash proved short.
McManus himself experienced a similar arc earlier in his career, bouncing back after a down 2017 season.

However, patience is conditional in the NFL.
Four of the fifteen kickers who were retained did not survive the subsequent season.

Younghoe Koo and Jake Moody lasted only a single game after receiving renewed trust.
That illustrates the unforgiving nature of the position.

On the other side of the ledger, twelve kickers were released outright following similar struggles.
Several resurfaced successfully elsewhere, while others faded from the league entirely.

Roberto Aguayo never kicked in the NFL again after his decline.
Meanwhile, Joey Slye has repeated sub-80 percent seasons across multiple teams.

Slye’s case is instructive because he compensates with range.
In 2025 alone, he attempted 14 kicks from 50-plus yards, embracing distance as part of his profile.

That is where the McManus dilemma sharpens.
Earlier in his career, he was known for leg strength and willingness to attempt long-range field goals.

Recently, that identity has diminished.
Over the past two seasons, McManus has attempted only eight kicks from 50 yards or more combined.

Thirteen kickers exceeded that number in 2025 alone.
The NFL’s modern trend favors aggressive range paired with improved overall efficiency.

League-wide, kickers are not only attempting longer field goals but converting them at increasing rates.
That evolution raises strategic questions for Green Bay.

If McManus no longer provides elite range and fails to deliver elite efficiency, what competitive edge remains.
Improvement to an 83 or 84 percent baseline would not materially alter game planning.

The Packers must also consider trajectory.
McManus is approaching his age-35 season, an inflection point for specialists reliant on leg strength and consistency.

While kickers can extend careers into their late thirties, decline phases often accelerate unexpectedly.
Green Bay’s broader roster construction must account for sustainability.

Bringing McManus back would place the Packers in statistically defensible company.
Roughly half of teams in comparable scenarios chose continuity over replacement.

Yet context matters.
Those decisions often involved younger kickers or players with distinct competitive advantages.

Green Bay’s offense, led by Jordan Love, continues to evolve.
Close games will hinge on precision in the red zone and reliability in tight postseason moments.

Special teams volatility cannot undermine offensive progress.
The memory of missed kicks in high-leverage playoff scenarios lingers.

Cutting McManus, however, carries risk as well.
The Packers would reenter the uncertain kicker marketplace, a domain notoriously volatile since the departure of Crosby.

Developmental options require patience.
Veteran free agents bring their own regression concerns.

Still, strategic alignment must prevail over sentiment.
If McManus no longer fits contemporary distance trends and offers diminishing efficiency, continuation may simply delay the inevitable transition.

Green Bay already faced similar uncertainty at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Resetting the position now may be disruptive but ultimately necessary.

Kicking remains the most isolated role in football.
One swing of the leg determines narrative, momentum, and postseason survival.

The data does not offer a definitive prescription, only precedent.
Half of teams in similar situations chose retention; half chose separation.

Pressed for a recommendation grounded in league trajectory and roster timing, the argument leans toward change.
Modern kicking prioritizes range and upward statistical momentum.

McManus’ profile no longer aligns fully with those metrics.
The Packers may find themselves better served investing in a younger, distance-capable alternative.

In a league increasingly defined by incremental advantages, settling for average at a critical position can prove costly.
The pragmatic path forward may be uncomfortable, but it is clear: Green Bay should move on.