The Los Angeles Rams signed veteran Brandon McManus hoping the third time is the charm at the all-important kicking position.
With three losses in the past four games by a total of nine points, the Rams were back in the market for a kicker after Blake Grupe’s season-ending ACL tear in his debut with the team last week.
Grupe made a 44-yard field goal, his lone attempt, in the Rams’ 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and was injured while trying to make a tackle on the ensuing kickoff.
Grupe was signed off the New York Jets’ practice squad last week to replace Harrison Mevis, who missed four field goals over the first five games of the season.
McManus, 35, is the sixth kicker to suit up for the Rams over the past four seasons.
McManus made 24 of 30 field goals and 32 of 33 extra points in his second season with the Packers in 2025. He missed both of his field-goal attempts (55 and 44 yards) in a 31-27 wild-card playoff loss on the road against the rival Chicago Bears.
The Packers selected the only kicker taken in the 2026 draft, Florida’s Trey Smack, and parted with McManus after one season of his three-year, $15.3-million contract.
A Super Bowl 50 champion with Denver, McManus played nine seasons with the Broncos (2014-22) and one with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2023) before joining the Packers.
McManus ranks fifth among active players in points (1,265) and fifth in field goals made (297). He has made 51 field goals of 50-plus yards, including a career-long 61-yarder in 2021.