Brian Gutekunst trades up for Florida's Trey Smack, aiming to solidify the Green Bay Packers' kicker position and potentially signal the end of an era for Brandon McManus.
Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has a way of doing things in the NFL draft. Typically speaking, he goes for high upside athletes who have yet to reach their full potential.
It's worked out plenty of times, too. Sometimes it doesn't, but that's just life in the NFL. Drafting is an inexact science, and it's a lot like baseball. If you hit on three out of 10 every year, you're doing great.
With that said, the 2026 NFL Draft has seen Gutekunst draft for need more than at any other time in his tenure as general manager for the Packers.
That continued in the sixth round, where the Packers went to fill a need but also moved up...meaning they have to feel like they've got "their guy". Gutekunst traded away both of his seventh-round picks to move into the tail end of the sixth round.
In that spot, the Packers selected place kicker Trey Smack from the Florida Gators with pick No. 216 in the draft.
After the season Brandon McManus had, one would imagine that the Packers have selected Smack to compete with him for the place kicker job in camp. Heck, McManus may not even make it that far, because by all accounts, Smack is the real deal.
He's got a leg on him. That much is for sure.
He made five field goals of 50-plus yards for the Gators in 2025. He's a career 82.8% kicker who went 14-of-19 on kicks between 40-49 yards and 10-of-13 on kicks of 50-plus.
Smack has a career long of 56. He was good from 60 at the NFL Combine.
All indications with Smack are that he was the best available kicker in this draft.
ESPN ranked him as the No. 1 place kicker and No. 261 player available overall.
" He gets adequate height on his kicks, having only one blocked," is the scouting report from Scouts Inc.
Notably, Smack was also in charge of kickoffs for the Gators in college, and 75% of his kicks resulted in touchbacks in 2025.
There's just a lot to like about this pick in the sixth round. Again, it also likely means that McManus' days in green and gold are numbered.
At 34 years old, he made just 24-of-30 field goals last season and he also missed an extra point. In Green Bay's playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, McManus went 0-2 in field goals and also hit the upright on an extra point.
Perhaps McManus' time in Green Bay aren't just numbered. Perhaps they're over.
It's Smack's time with the Pack.
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