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In the midst of transitioning away from their franchise quarterback, the Green Bay Packers are also transitioning away from their franchise kicker.
Maybe.
Back for his second season as the special teams coordinator, Rich Bisaccia wouldn’t rule out a return for Mason Crosby during a press conference on Tuesday.
“I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of great kickers in my time in the league, and he’s one of them. We’re still in conversation. I think Brian (Gutekunst) has spoken that the door’s not closed, and he’s not on anybody’s team yet,” said Bisaccia.
“I still think there’s play in Mason and we’ll see what the future holds.”
For the time being, Bisaccia is correct. Crosby is unsigned, but his 16 years of experience and 11th overall ranking on the NFL’s all-time scoring list make one think he could be snatched up at any moment. The Packers, meanwhile, are trying to get younger at several positions, which may include kicker.
At 38 years of age, Crosby showed he can still be consistent last season, connecting on 86.2 percent of his field goals. The only issue is a kicker of his status requires a respectable salary that Green Bay may not be willing to pay.
So, in search of a younger, cheaper option, Gutekunst selected Anders Carlson in the sixth round out of Auburn. Some might say spending a draft pick on a kicker isn’t very astute. Those same people forget Crosby was a former sixth-round pick himself or may not be aware of Bisaccia’s rapport with Carlson that dates back well before he was drafted by Green Bay.
For a very brief time (less than a month in fact), Bisaccia was a special teams coach, running backs coach, and assistant head coach at Auburn. His first home visit was to the Carlson household, where he recruited Anders’ older brother, Daniel, to kick for the Tigers. The two were later reunited in Las Vegas after Daniel was cut by the Minnesota Vikings.
From 2018-21, Bisaccia helped resurrect Daniel’s career so he could become an All-Pro for the Raiders. All the while, the younger Carlson was a frequent visitor. According to Bisaccia, they would review his college tape and even suggest drills to him.
Admittingly, Carlson’s time at Auburn was a little more turbulent than his older brother’s. In five seasons, he battled multiple injuries and made only 71.8 percent of his field goals. Fortunately for him, Bisaccia didn’t focus too much on the stats when suggesting him to the Packers.
“I look at the makeup of the person,” he said. “I think he’s a strong mental makeup person. I think he’s been his best regardless of the circumstance. He’s been in a lot of big games, kicked in a lot of situations in the SEC, and kicked in many bowl games.”
Bisaccia also likes Carlson’s ability to self-correct, which could be somewhat of a family trait. For taller kickers, your angle when approaching the ball has to be precise, per Bisaccia. Measuring at 6-5, this contributed to Daniel’s downfall in Minnesota and is something Carlson (the same height) has worked on as well.
At least for now, Carlson doesn’t have to look over his shoulder for Crosby. He may never have to if the Packers stick to their youth movement and focus on the development of their younger players. Bisaccia believes that is the plan for 2023.
“If Anders can perform like we think he can and can improve, I think we’re prepared organizationally with, as well as the majority of the other draft picks, to weather the storm to some degree positionally, and hopefully, they can keep improving and get better with time.”