Grading the trade: Packers move up late to take another shot at finding long-term answer at kicker with bold decision
Green Bay moved back into the sixth round to draft Florida kicker Trey Smack, essentially ending veteran Brandon McManus’ tenure with the Packers.
The Green Bay Packers won’t shy away from drafting kickers after the Anders Carlson failure. On Saturday, general manager Brian Gutekunst sent the team’s two seventh-round picks to the Seattle Seahawks to move up to the final pick of the sixth round.
And with the 216th overall pick, the Packers drafted Florida kicker Trey Smack.
In terms of process, that’s a highly questionable move. First, because drafting kickers is always risky — the track record of taking players at this position compared to undrafted players isn’t much different. But also, spending two picks to move up and get him increases the investment.
Obviously, the Packers were not happy with veteran Brandon McManus after what happened last season, especially in the playoffs. But two wrongs don’t make a right.
Grade: D
Trey Smack’s Key Facts and Stats Ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft
- Converted five 50+ yard field goals in 2025
- Converted a 57-yarder in the Shrine Bowl
- 81.8 FG% last season at Florida
- Converted 100 of 101 extra points throughout college career
Trey Smack’s scouting report
This is what NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote about Smack:
“Smack has a strong leg and can deliver beyond 50 yards at a high rate without having to drive balls with a lower trajectory. His repeatable process and consistent placement give him an above-average chance of making it in the league.
“Strengths: Consistent ball-striker with good lift and placement; Made 77% (10 of 13) of his kicks from 50+ yards out; Capable as an emergency punter if needed; Good size with ability to cover and tackle on kickoffs.
“Weaknesses: Missed 47-yard kick in overtime loss to Tennessee in 2024; High percentage of misses were off the right hash; Missed three field goals in the first game of 2025, including 39- and 40-yard tries.” — Lance Zierlein
Positional reasoning
The Packers already had two kickers on the roster, veteran Brandon McManus and Lucas Havrisik, who played last year while McManus was hurt. The Packers even paid McManus his $1 million roster bonus back in March, but that didn’t preclude Brian Gutekunst from looking for an upgrade at the position.
McManus had a solid 2024 season for the Packers and signed a three-year extension last offseason, but things quickly changed in 2025. He converted 24 of 30 field goals, and his percentage dropped from 95.2% to 80%. He also missed an extra point. Worse than that, McManus missed two field goals (including a 44-yarder) and a fourth-quarter extra point costing the Packers seven points in 31-27 playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.
This is the fourth time general manager Brian Gutekunst drafts a specialist. In his first draft back in 2018, he took punter JK Scott in the fifth and long snapper Hunter Bradley in the seventh. In 2023, Green Bay drafted kicker Anders Carlson in the sixth — it’s fair to say that it’s not the most impressive track record.
