Broncos release 9-year veteran kicker on Tuesday, Rams could be in the market

It was only three years ago that the L.A. Rams held a disastrous kicking competition between three unproven players and saw that none of them would be with the team a month into the 2020 season. The Rams had to sign two more free agents before they landed on Matt Gay, who then became one of the most reliable players on the team and reached the Pro Bowl.

But L.A. let Gay leave in free agency this year and either Sean McVay isn’t afraid of history repeating itself at the kicker position or the Rams didn’t learn anything from the Sam Sloman tryouts. As of right now, the Rams are set to have a competition between undrafted free agents Christopher Dunn and Tanner Brown, but will L.A. be in the market for veterans who become available?

If so, then the Denver Broncos just let go of a good one: Brandon McManus has been released on Tuesday and is available for the Rams to sign.

McManus has spent nine seasons with the Broncos and connected on 81.4% career field goal attempts. He has also taken full advantage of Mile High Stadium, connecting on 23 field goals of 50+ yards over the past three seasons alone, including 8-of-13 in 2022.

But McManus also struggled on short kicks last year, missing one from inside 30, missing two from 30-39, and missing two extra points. He’s never been the most accurate kicker in the league but he’s definitely a player expected to be rostered in a league with so much variance at the position.

McManus also handles kickoffs, something else that the Rams will need.

If the Rams are interested in McManus, it’s also not as if they will have much competition for his services as most teams have addressed the position already. L.A. has two options and they might not want to bring in a veteran at all, but if they do, a pretty good one just hit the market.