Without Anders Karlsson, the Green Bay Packers may not be able to take on the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship this weekend.Fair or not, the team wasted little time creating competition for a starting spot by signing Jack Podlesny on Wednesday, January 24th.
Podlesny was named first team All-SEC at the University of Georgia in 2022 and also earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Year honors after making 26 of 31 field goal attempts and 73 of 74 extra points.Carlson, who also played in the Southeastern Conference at Auburn University, was selected by the Packers in the sixth round (No. 207 overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Meanwhile, Podlesny went undrafted and eventually signed with the Minnesota Vikings. He signed with the Vikings on April 30, but the 23-year-old was waived midway through the preseason on Aug. 17, according to Pro Football Reference. Green Bay’s decision to draft the kicker seemed like a no-brainer, but Carlson has an older brother, Daniel Carlson. He was a successful punter for six seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, earning All-Pro honors with the team after the 2022 season. .
The team got it. Whatever the Packers’ motivation for investing heavily in Carlson, including a four-year, $4 million rookie contract, the decision didn’t go as planned.According to Pro Football Reference, Carlson missed six field goals (27 of 33) and had 34 extra point attempts during the regular season. He also missed a 41-yard field goal against the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC Divisional Round playoff game on January 20. With less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, that mistake almost gave the Packers the lead. .
The Niners then drove 69 yards down the field in just over five minutes to take a three-point lead they would never relinquish. FOX Sports’ Tom Rinaldi provided an in-game report shortly after Carlson missed the game-tying kick, citing comments from Packers head coach Matt LaFleur during the pregame production meeting.”When I talked to coach Matt LaFleur, he basically said, ‘If it comes out, all I’m going to do is pray,’
” Rinaldo said in a statement. LA Fleur spoke to the media on Monday, two days after Rinaldi’s report. The veteran reporter claimed he was misunderstood. “It’s very unfortunate that this message was delivered in this way,” LaFleur said. “I’ve been attending production meetings since I became a coordinator and I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
