What if the Commanders still had Brandon McManus as their kicker?
McManus was in the news again on Tuesday. The former Commanders kicker, Tuesday, signed a three-year deal with the Green Bay Packers.
Commanders fans will recall the Commanders released McManus on June 2, one week after news had been announced that McManus had been accused by two women of sexually assaulting them on a charter flight to London when he was kicking for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Commanders had said, "We take allegations of this nature very seriously." Indeed, it was serious for the Commanders to go ahead and release the veteran kicker prior to McManus getting his fair day in court. Actually, there was no fair day in court because later, the charges were dropped against McManus, who then signed with the Packers.
One can't help but wonder if the Commanders' leadership of GM Adam Peters and HC Dan Quinn wish they still had the services of McManus as their kicker. You see, in 2024, the Packers were the recipients of a tremendous year by McManus when he missed only one kick the entire regular season. McManus was accurate on all 30 of his point after touchdown (PAT) attempts. If that wasn't enough, McManus then was successful on 20 of his 21 field goal attempts in 2024.
Well, we can't cry over spilled milk. Adam Peters and Dan Quinn certainly didn't. They tried Cade York. Gone after one game. They tried Greg Joseph for one week as well. Austin Seibert made 27 of 30 field goal attempts in his nine Commanders games, while Zane Gonzalez connected on five of his seven attempts in six games. However, Seibert missed two PATs (22-24), while Gonzalez made 19 of them.
McManus was signed by Washington as a free agent last March. No word yet on if the Commanders are looking to have Seibert and Gonzalez compete for the kicker job or if they will sign another free-agent kicker this March.
