The Green Bay Packers have faced significant issues at the kicker position recently.

After the 2022 NFL season, the team decided to part ways with Mason Crosby, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. To fill his spot, the Packers drafted Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Despite concerns about replacing Crosby with a kicker who was deemed less draftable, the Packers compounded the issue by not bringing in any competition for Carlson during the previous training camp. Carlson’s performance was underwhelming: he converted 81.8% of his field goals and only 87.2% of his extra points, showcasing notable inconsistency.

Although Carlson began the season well, he eventually had one of the worst kicking seasons in recent memory for the Packers.In contrast, Crosby, despite several seasons with field goal percentages below 80%, was generally reliable with extra points.

Carlson, however, missed more kicks than any other NFL kicker last season, including misses in 10 out of 12 games, which included the Packers’ playoff losses, one of which was by three points to the San Francisco 49ers.

Not ready to give Carlson another chance without competition, Green Bay brought in veteran Greg Joseph, who had spent the past three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.

Training camp began as a tough competition between Carlson and Joseph, with both kickers improving their accuracy. However, Carlson’s performance faltered, and Joseph gained an edge.

Joseph then struggled towards the end of camp, making the competition tight once more.Carlson missed a crucial field goal in the Packers’ final preseason game and was subsequently cut when the 53-man roster was announced.

Joseph was retained briefly but was soon released.Joseph is now back in the NFL, having signed with the Detroit Lions’ practice squad. He boasts a career field goal accuracy of 82.6% and has made 90.1% of his extra points.

Before his stint with the Vikings, Joseph had one-year stints with the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans and has also been on the practice squads of the Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This marks Joseph’s eighth team in seven years.