Green Bay Reporter

The Green Bay Packers have announced the signing of kicker Brandon McManus and wide receiver Malik Knowles to their practice squad. Concurrently, the team has released kicker Brayden Narveson. These transactions were confirmed by General Manager Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday.

Brandon McManus, standing at 6 feet 3 inches and weighing 201 pounds, enters his eleventh year in the NFL. Originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2013, McManus has had stints with several teams including the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Washington Commanders. Over his career, he has played in 161 regular-season games and four postseason contests. His field goal success rate stands at 81.4 percent for regular-season games with a long kick of 61 yards. He ranks fourth in the NFL for field goals made (253) and points scored (1,071) since 2014 and third for field goals over 50 yards during that time frame. Notably, he led the league with 28 field goals from beyond 50 yards over the last four seasons (2020-23). In postseason play, McManus has been perfect with all ten field goal attempts converted along with three extra points. His kickoff performance is also notable; out of 750 kickoffs in regular-season games, 543 resulted in touchbacks.

Malik Knowles joins as a first-year player from Kansas State University. The Minnesota Vikings initially signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2023 before waiving him due to injury after training camp this year. During his college tenure, Knowles was recognized as a second-team All-American by Phil Steele's College Football for two consecutive seasons. In particular, his kickoff return skills stood out in 2021 when he ranked second nationally with two kickoff-return touchdowns and fourth with a return average of 33.1 yards.

McManus will don jersey number 17 while Knowles will wear number 82 for their new team.