Getty Image / Roy K Miller
Many kickers around the NFL face the unfortunate reality that they are considered easily replaceable by the franchises they play for.
One bad game is all it takes for a kicker to be looking for a new employer is one bad game.
It happened to Rodrigo Blankenship after Week 1 last season and it happened to Brett Maher this offseason after he had an awful playoff game for the Cowboys.
However, kickers’ jobs are usually pretty safe when they’re playing well.
Unfortunately for one kicker, it appears that is not the case.
Today, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they were releasing Riley Patterson and replacing him with former Broncos kicker Brandon McManus.
We have signed K Brandon McManus and waived K Riley Patterson.https://t.co/rRBd0NvTKc
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) May 25, 2023
The decision to release Riley Patterson is a very surprising one for the Jags. Patterson was a solid kicker for them during the 2022 season, making 30 of his 35 total attempts, including 10 of 13 from 40-49 yards and 2 of 3 from 50 or more yards out. His 85.7% conversion rate put him around the league average.
He was also perfect for them in the playoffs, making all 4 of his extra point attempts and all 3 of his field goal attempts, including the game winner against the Los Angeles Chargers to complete a wild comeback for the Jags.
Despite that success, the Jags have decided to move on in favor of a bigger name that was also recently released.
McManus was released by the Denver Broncos on Wednesday and didn’t take much time at all to find a new home.
The appeal of McManus is obviously his big leg. He made 40 field goals of 50 yards or more over the course of his 9 seasons with the Broncos.
However, he has only been as accurate as Patterson was last season once in his career, making 85.7% of his field goal attempts back in 2015 and now he won’t benefit from Denver’s altitude.
Still, it looks like the Jacksonville Jaguars felt they needed to improve at the position and now they’ll be hoping they have somebody to convert the long field goals they rarely attempted last season.