The Green Bay Packers have had a disastrous run at the kicker position over the past year or so. At the end of the 2022 NFL season, they made the decision to move on from the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Mason Crosby. In an effort to replace him, they selected Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
As concerning as the decision was to move on from Crosby and to replace him with a kicker who was widely considered un-draftable, it was even more of a concern that the Packers did not bring in any competition for Carlson during training camp last year.
The results were disastrous.
Former Green Bay Packers Kicker Anders Carlson Struggled in 2023
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
In his only season as the Packers’ kicker, Carlson made 81.8% of his field goals and a pitiful 87.2% of his extra point attempts. What was most concerning was his lack of consistency. While he started out the first third of the season perfect, he went on to have one of the worst kicking seasons in recent memory in Green Bay.
While Crosby had several seasons in which he made less than 80% of his field goals, he was almost always automatic with extra points.
Carlson, though, missed more kicks than anyone in the NFL last season. At one point, he missed at least one kick in 10 of 12 games, a run that included Green Bay’s two NFL Playoffs matchups.
They lost the second of these matchups, to the San Francisco 49ers, by three points.
Carlson missed a field goal.
The Green Bay Packers Brought in Greg Joseph to Compete with Anders Carlson
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Unwilling to give Carlson the job outright again, Green Bay decided to bring in veteran Greg Joseph to compete for the job in training camp. Joseph had spent the last three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
Training camp started out as a fierce competition, with both kickers appearing to have improved their respective accuracies over the course of the offseason.
But then Carlson started to struggle, and Joseph pulled ahead in the competition. It was not to last, though, as Joseph had a bad week of practice towards the end of camp, making them neck-and-neck once again.
Carlson missed a chip-shot field goal in Green Bay’s final preseason game and was released when the initial 53-man roster came out. Joseph was kept on, but only for a day.
Green Bay claimed Brayden Narveson off of waivers from the Tennessee Titans and released Joseph the next day.
Former Green Bay Packers Kicker Greg Joseph Has Signed with the Detroit Lions
Joseph is no longer out of work, though. Earlier this afternoon, it was reported by his agent that he has signed with the Detroit Lions to be on their practice squad:
The Detroit Lions just signed my kicker Greg Joseph to their practice squad. 7-year vet was last with Green Bay and spent three prior seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
— Brett Tessler (@TesslerSports) September 10, 2024
Joseph has a career field goal percentage of 82.6% and has made 90.1% of his extra point attempts. Prior to his three seasons with the Vikings, he spent one year with each of the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans.
He also has spent time on the practice squads of the Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Lions are Joseph’s eighth team in seven years.
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