Stability at the kicker position has been one of the biggest strengths of the Green Bay Packers organization since Ron Wolf became general manager in 1992.

Prior to 2023, in that time span the Packers had just four kickers over 32 seasons: Chris Jacke, Ryan Longwell, Dave Rayner and Mason Crosby.

It took the Packers a year and a half of searching for the successor to Crosby, but after joining the team in Week 7 Brandon McManus brought stability back to the position going 20 of 21 in the regular season.

McManus kicked two game-winning field goals in his first two games with the Packers.

Heading into the offseason, signing the 34-year-old McManus to a new contract should be at the top of the to-do list.

The other free agents at kicker this offseason: Nick Folk age 40, Matt Prater age 40, Eddie Pineiro age 29, Michael Badgley age 29, Joey Slye age 28, Greg Joseph age 30, Zane Gonzalez age 29, Austin Siebert age 28, Cade York age 24.

In the drafting of Anders Carlson and then with replacing him with Brayden Narvseon, it appeared the path the Packers wanted to take at kicker was having a young guy and letting him grow into the position.

It worked almost 30 years ago with Ryan Longwell, who went on to be the team’s all-time leading scorer, being the team’s kicker from 1997 to 2005. And then it worked again with Mason Crosby, a former 6th round draft pick, as he broke Longwell’s scoring record and was the team’s kicker for 16 seasons.

To keep McManus, the Packers would be going forward with a kicker in his mid 30’s, but based on how kickers can age well in the NFL, his age should not scare away Brian Guteknust. Nick Folk, the other top kicker in free agency, is six years older, but has been one of the league’s most accurate kickers the last five seasons.

McManus would be entering next season coming off his best season of his career. The 20 of 21 in field goals was 95 percent, his only season in the 90 percent range. He had three other seasons making over 85 percent of his field goals.

McManus did go just 1 of 2 on his field goals in the Packers playoff loss against the Eagles, but that should not be a factor against his re-signing. McManus turned one of the team’s biggest weaknesses in Weeks 1 thru 6, into being one of the most reliable aspects of the team the remainder of the season.

Keeping him should be one of the first things Gutekunst does when free agency starts in a few weeks. And the last time the Super Bowl was in Levi’s Stadium, who was the kicker of the winning team? You guessed it, Brandon McManus. Yet another reason to go with the veteran kicker next season.