The Packers handed Anders Carlson their kicking job after taking him in the sixth round of the draft last year, but he won’t be handed a second season.
Carlson missed six field goals and five extra points in the regular season and one of each in the postseason, including a field goal miss that played a big part in their divisional round loss to the 49ers. That performance led the Packers to sign veteran Greg Joseph as a free agent and General Manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed that the team will be pitting the two players against each other in the offseason and preseason.
“Competition,” Gutekunst said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “That position is obviously critical to us attaining our goals.”
Gutekunst said that he foresees the competition lasting through the summer, so Carlson and Joseph will get plenty of chances to make their case to be this year’s kicker in Green Bay.