Without kicker Anders Carlson, the Green Bay Packers might not be meeting the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game this weekend.
Fair or not, the team wasted little time in bringing in competition for the starting job, signing Jack Podlesny on Wednesday, January 24. Podlesny was named first-team All-SEC at the University of Georgia in 2022, and he also won the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year Award, converting on 26-of-31 field goal attempts and 73-of-74 extra points.
Still, it was Carlson — who also kicked in the Southeastern Conference for the University of Auburn — the Packers selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft (No. 207 overall).
Meanwhile, Podlesny went undrafted and ultimately landed with the Minnesota Vikings. He signed a contract with the team on April 30, per Pro Football Reference, though the Vikings cut the 23-year-old partway through the preseason on August 17
Anders Carlson Struggled in Rookie Year With Green Bay Packers
Green Bay’s choice to draft a kicker at all was somewhat curious, though Carlson has the benefit of an older brother — Daniel Carlson — who has been a successful placekicker with the Las Vegas Raiders for six seasons and earned first-team All-Pro honors following the 2022 campaign.
Whatever the reason the Packers made such a big investment in Carlson, including a four-year rookie contract worth $4 million in total, the move hasn’t worked out the way the franchise had hoped.
Carlson missed six field goals during the regular season (27-of-33) and was 34-of-39 on extra point attempts, per Pro Football Reference. He also missed a 41-yard field goal try against the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC Divisional Round Playoff Game on January 20.
The errant kick came with just over six minutes to play in the final quarter and would have put the Packers up by a touchdown. The Niners subsequently marched 69 yards down the field in a little over five minutes, claiming a three-point lead they would not relinquish.
Matt LaFleur Indicated Lack of Faith in Anders Carlson Before Playoff Game
Tom Rinaldi of FOX Sports offered an in-game report almost immediately after Carlson missed the crucial kick, in which he quoted comments made by Packers head coach Matt LaFleur during an interview that took place in a production meeting ahead of the game.
“When we talked to the head coach Matt LaFleur about this, he basically said, ‘When he goes out there, I just pray,’” Rinaldi said.
LaFleur spoke with media members on Monday, two days after Rinaldi’s report, and claimed that the seasoned reporter misinterpreted his words.
“That was extremely disappointing that that’s how that message got portrayed,” LaFleur went on to say. “I’ve been a part of production meetings ever since I became a coordinator, and I’ve never had an experience like that.”
