GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — After having Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph compete for their placekicking job throughout training camp, the Green Bay Packers decided their best option was finding someone else.
The Packers claimed Brayden Narveson off waivers from the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday and released Joseph. Those moves came one day after Green Bay cut Carlson, a 2023 sixth-round pick who had a disappointing rookie season last year.
Narveson had an impressive preseason for Tennessee, though he never had much of a chance of unseating Nick Folk. The rookie from N.C. State was 6 of 7 on field-goal attempts, including a 59-yarder. He also made a 46-yard attempt as time expired in a 16-15 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
The lone field goal he missed was a 58-yarder at the end of Sunday’s first half in New Orleans that was nearly returned for a touchdown. He made the kick only to have it nullified because a timeout had been called.
That wasn’t enough to win a roster spot at Tennessee, where Folk signed a new contract in March after making 96.7% of his kicks last season.
Narveson had made 78% of his field-goal attempts (71 of 91) during his college career at Iowa State (2019), Western Kentucky (2020-22) and N.C. State (2023). Last season, he went 18 of 23 at NC State and set a school record with his 57-yarder at Duke.
Carlson went 27 of 33 on field-goal attempts — including just 7 of 13 from at least 40 yards — and 34 of 39 on extra points last season. He missed a 41-yard field goal as the Packers were trying to protect a fourth-quarter lead in an NFC divisional playoff game they eventually lost 24-21 at San Francisco.
He went 3 of 4 on field goals in the preseason and sent a 32-yard attempt wide right in the fourth quarter of a 30-7 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
Joseph was 24 of 30 on field-goal attempts and also went 7 of 13 from at least 40 yards for Minnesota last year in his third season with the Vikings. He also has played for the Cleveland Browns (2018) and Titans (2019).
The addition of Narveson means this will be the 20th consecutive year that a rookie undrafted free agent has made the Packers’ season-opening roster, though the fact he started out with Tennessee adds a wrinkle to the streak. This is the first time during that 20-year stretch that the Packers have opened a year without a rookie undrafted free agent they hadn’t signed directly out of college.
