Packers Urged to Trade Brandon McManus After Blunders in Pittsburgh
The Green Bay Packers caught a considerable amount of criticism for sticking with kicker Brandon McManus for their road matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers on the October 26 edition of “Sunday Night Football.”
McManus missed both field goals he attempted in the first half of the contest, one from 57 yards at the beginning of the second quarter and another from 44 yards on the last play before halftime, which Green Bay entered down by a score of 16-7.
Media members and fans alike took to social media to express their frustration with McManus’s struggles, as well as the Packers’ decision not to go with kicker Lucas Havrisik instead.
Hell of a drive from Jordan Love to get potential points before the half. Had 34 seconds to get into field-goal range. Completed all 3 of his passes for 36 yards…and Brandon McManus pushes the 44-yard field goal wide left.
Have to question not playing Lucas Havrisik tonight.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) October 27, 2025
“Hell of a drive from [quarterback] Jordan Love to get potential points before the half,” Ryan Wood of USA Today posted to X. “Had 34 seconds to get into field-goal range. Completed all 3 of his passes for 36 yards … and Brandon McManus pushes the 44-yard field goal wide left. Have to question not playing Lucas Havrisik tonight.”
McManus also missed a field goal during the Packers’ 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns on September 21, Green Bay’s only defeat of the season coming into Sunday night, and another against the Washington Commanders the previous week. He was also errant on an extra point against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4, a game that the Packers finished in a 40-40 tie.
In four and a half games played in 2025, McManus had connected on just 7-of-11 field goals as well as 11-of-12 extra points. He hit an extra point early in the third quarter on Sunday night following a Packers touchdown that moved him to 12-of-13 on the season.
Lucas Havrisik Was Perfect Across 2 Games for Packers in Relief of Injured Brandon McManus
GettyKicker Lucas Havrisik of the Green Bay Packers.
McManus missed Green Bay’s past two games with a quad injury, and Havrisik filled in.
Havrisik was perfect in those two outings, connecting on all four field goals and all six extra points he attempted. This season represents Havrisik’s second in the NFL after playing in nine games for the Los Angeles Rams in 2023.
Havrisik went 15-of-20 on field goal tries in L.A., as well as 19-of-22 on extra points. He is 26 years old and played college football at the University of Arizona.
Packers Can Pick up Salary Cap Space by Parting Ways With Brandon McManus, but Only Via Trade
GettyGreen Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus.
Moving on from McManus, 34, and elevating Havrisik can provide the Packers with the benefit of salary cap relief in both this season and the next, but only if they do so via trade.
Justis Mosqueda of SB Nation’s Acme Packing Co. laid out the financial scenario Sunday.
McManus signed a three-year, $15.3 million deal this offseason that featured a $5 million signing bonus. With that being said, McManus’ combined cap hit over the 2025 and 2026 seasons is $8.8 million. If the team wants to, they can eat that signing bonus, which would be spread over the cap over the next two seasons: $1.7 million on the books for 2025 and the remaining $3.3 million hitting in 2026.
Considering that Havrisik only has one accrued NFL season, the Packers would be able to re-sign the kicker as an exclusive rights free agent in 2026, and Havrisik would be making the league minimum on that tender. Overall, the team would end up actually saving cash with that move.
The question facing Green Bay is whether they believe in Havrisik enough to move on from McManus, to whom they just made a meaningful commitment during the offseason.
Browns Predicted to Add Undefeated Star to Replace Dillon Gabriel
It would be just the Browns‘ luck, wouldn’t it, to have two first-round picks (one likely a Top 5 pick) in a 2026 NFL draft that has depth and quality at a number of positions … but not so much at quarterback. It’s a legacy that stretches back more than three decades, the Browns’ inability to draft and develop a top-line quarterback, and there is real fear that the 2026 draft might not be the one to help them much.
Still, after five games of Dillon Gabriel, and unless there is a late-season revelation on Shedeur Sanders as a future star, the Browns will need to pick a quarterback in six months. The pool might be slim, but at Cleveland.com, they’ve got a path for the Browns to get a guy who has shown some toughness and grit–and who happens to be 6-foot-5, a nice contrast to the diminutive Gabriel.
The quarterback: Fernando Mendoza of undefeated Indiana.
Browns Could Land Top 2026 QB
Now, it should be noted that the mock draft does feature a big break for the Browns, in that the team lands with the fourth pick and none of the Top 3 pick a quarterback. That’s plausible, since two of the worst teams in the league–the Titans and Giants–appear to have QB1s in place. A third, the Saints, could decide they need to give last year’s second-rounder, Tyler Shough, a shot.
So the Browns get the pick of the QB litter.
Writes Tim Bielik of Cleveland.com: “Mendoza right now is QB1 and his game-winning drive at Penn State on Saturday only solidified that standing. He has just about everything a quarterback needs except for an elite deep ball. Mendoza has taken the next step as a quarterback under Curt Cignetti and looks like the type of QB who could turn a team like the Browns back around quickly.”
Fernando Mendoza Early QB 1 Leader
There is some debate on who is the top quarterback in this draft, with Ty Simpson of Alabama getting some of that attention, and Oregon’s Dante Moore also in the mix. And the one worrying aspect of it all is that none of those three were considered sure-fire first-rounders heading into this season. If only Arch manning had lived up to his hype, this might be an easy call.
Still, the Browns are unmistakably in the market for a quarterback, and Mendoza shines as a sort of anti-Gabriel–big and strong, poised in the pocket, while being both accurate and willing to take risks down the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Mendoza is not all that bad with the deep passes, completing 18 of his 33 passes of 20 yards or more this year.
(Worth noting: Gabriel is 2-for-8 on such passes with the Browns thus far.)
Mendoza’s completion percentage (71.3%) is excellent, and he has racked up 2,342 yards on the season in 10 games. The only games in which he did not top 200 yards passing were blowouts against Old Dominion and UCLA.
Browns Could Also Add a Top WR With Fernando Mendoza
The good news for the Browns on their second first-rounder is that, should the team turn to more offensive help with that pick, there is a deep pool of first-round-worthy receivers on hand, and Cleveland should do what it can to pluck one of them.
The Cleveland.com mock has them landing USC’s Makai Lemon, who has been one of the most productive pass-catchers in college football. But Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), Carnell Tate (Ohio State), Chris Bell (Louisville), and Denzel Boston (Washington) are also worth watching.
