The Green Bay Packers hope to win a championship as they start the 2024 campaign. Given that they sold away one of their greatest players in club history little over a year ago, that in and of itself is rather astounding.
Anders Carlson, who just had a mixed rookie year, seems unfazed by the Green Bay Packers’ three-man kicking battle:
At the Packers OTAs on Tuesday, he stated, “I think it’s something you embrace.” “You will compete if you play in the NFL. It’s a competitive industry whether or not you see people in your building. Thus, the key is to stay in your own lane, support your teammates, and always strive to be the greatest.
“Everything is as it usually is,” Carlson stated. “Whether there are ten guys here or zero guys, the mentality remains the same. Kicking is distinct in that it allows you to concentrate on you. It is not required that you provide it to anyone else. You are alone with the field goal posts. That’s the current attitude, and it truly is that self-centeredness.
General manager Brian Gutekunst gave Carlson a free pass despite his being a sixth-round draft selection the previous year. The Packers signed Parker White at the end of the 2022 season, but he was cut after a few weeks of organized team activities. This was after the team decided not to re-sign club career scoring leader Mason Crosby.
And it was Carlson’s end. The Packers failed to bring in a challenger even as he fell into a miss-a-game slump that continued until the season-ending loss at San Francisco.
He has two now. One is the seasoned kicker Greg Joseph, who spent the previous three seasons with the Vikings. Podlesny, who was a free agent in 2023 and was cut by Joseph midway through Vikings training camp last summer, is the other player.
Carlson converted 27 of 33 field goals and 34 of 39 extra points during his first campaign. Among kickers with more than 20 attempts, he was 23rd in field goal percentage (81.8) and second to last in extra point percentage (87.2). He missed 11 kicks, which was a league record.
Carlson made every kick in the season’s first five games. Even still, in eight of the remaining ten regular-season games and two of the playoff games, he failed to make at least one kick.
Carlson could change his perspective as long as he was thinking about the next kick or the next game. That was untrue following his crucial error against San Francisco. His attempt to make a field goal went wide left with 6:21 remaining in the game. The Packers would have led 24–17 had he made.
But in the 2007 campaign, Mason Crosby took over as the Packers’ starting quarterback. He didn’t make more than 80% of his field goals in a single season until 2011. The Packers will undoubtedly have competition, but Carlson will probably play for them for at least a few seasons.
