Packers Ultimately Said “No Thanks” to Former Viking

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports.

When the Green Bay Packers cut ties with second-year kicker Anders Carlson earlier this week, Greg Joseph presumptively won the cheese team’s kicker battle. But that assumption proved premature.

Packers Ultimately Said “No Thanks” to Former Viking

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky tweeted Wednesday, one day after the NFL’s roster cut deadline: “So the winner of the Greg Joseph-Anders Carlson competition turns out to be … Brayden Narveson. Packers awarded the kicker off waivers from the Titans.”

Verdict on the Vikings
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Narveson joined the NFL this offseason as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans. He kicked at North Carolina State last year after stints at Western Kentucky and Iowa State and has earned Second Team All-Conference USA twice.

However, it’ll be his first NFL action when he steps up to the plate for Green Bay in eight days. He’s a rookie — one evidently good enough to dethrone Joseph, a veteran.

Tennessee Titans place kicker B. Narveson (47) goes through drills on the last day of training camp at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Aug. 22 2024. © Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK.

Joseph played for Minnesota in the last three seasons, securing the kicker job longer than most amid the last decade of Vikings football. He struggled overall in 2022 and 2023 but racked up five game-winning field goals in 2022, a chief component in actionizing the Vikings’ NFL-record-setting 11-0 record in games decided by one score or less that season.

Minnesota’s kicker won five football games for the team notoriously snakebitten by kicker-related tomfoolery.

The National Folks Picking the Vikings over Packers
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Yet, in back-to-back seasons, 2022 and 2023, Joseph ranked as a bottom-six NFL kicker per overall field goal percentage. The man also blundered with extra points. Vikings fans “appreciated what they had” in Joseph, scarred from kickers of yesteryear who let them down in crucial, pressure-cooked moments.

But as a matter of improvement, Minnesota strived to find a kicker who could do it all: consistently hit game-winning kicks, normal ones, and drill extra points. The club may have found that in rookie Will Reichard, who has hit the spot this summer with nearly impeccable kicking.

This stat is the main reason that the Vikings preferred a new solution in Reichard:

Greg Joseph,
Field Goal % Ranking,
Last 2 Seasons
:

2022 = 28th
2023 = 28th

It’s worth noting that Packers fans were underwhelmed by Joseph’s apparent initial winning of the kicking job. Some claimed of Carlson and Joseph this summer — that Joseph merely didn’t struggle quite as much.

Tennessee Titans place kicker B. Narveson (47) kicks the game-winning field goal against the Seattle Seahawks during the fourth quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. © Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK.

So, in that vein, it makes all the sense in the world that Joseph would find the exit sign with a new kicker like Narveson getting the nod.

The Vikings take on the Packers at Lambeau Field in 31 days.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.