There were many reasons for the Denver Broncos to replace Brandon McManus, but the timing of dropping the kicker was a bit odd.
Joining 9News Broncos insiders and 104.3 The Fan contributor Mike Klis, who wrote on KUSA some of what could see Denver’s longtime kicker exit. Aside from Denver’s obvious lackluster special teams a year ago, almost all of which new coach Sean Payton has inherited, there’s something new.
“One wonders why that move didn’t come in mid-March… they’ve waited until now, one wonders if the fact that McManus isn’t tackling all of the team’s off-season conditioning is in question.” He’s a supporter of the union, the union keeps players from showing up for the first and second phase of team conditioning,” Klis said. “It’s a culture shift by Sean Payton.”
The Broncos replace Brandon McManus. So who will be Denver’s next kicker? 🤔 #BroncosCountry
FULL STORY: https://t.co/we95pFAH2h pic.twitter.com/u0f3OznQcA
— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) May 25, 2023
McManus’ move earlier this week saves the Broncos $3.75 million on this year’s salary cap. Denver will have a $1,231,250 dead-money charge on the cap for the next two years.
McManus, a Temple product, made at least 80 percent of his field goal attempts in all but one season from 2015 through 2021. But last season, his success rate dropped to 77.8 percent. He also missed two extra points.
And his drop in field goal percentage couldn’t just be attributed to a lack of Hail Mary attempts for 64 and 63 yards in Seattle and Baltimore, respectively. Last year, McManus ranked 28th out of 34 kickers (at least 10 attempts) for 50-yard field goal success rate.
However, the new details about Payton’s bill align with some other rumors from Dove Valley about the culture change under the new head coach.
The NFLPA encourages players not to participate in voluntary training sessions. The NFLPA says, “Training is strictly voluntary; Club officials cannot indicate that training is anything other than voluntary.” Punishing, or in this case firing, McManus for not showing up for voluntary training sessions would be a violation of the CBA by Payton and the Broncos.
McManus has already signed up to join the Jags while the Broncos are looking for a new man for the job.
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