Anders Carlson is finding life in the NFL difficult.
The former Green Bay Packers kicker was cut by the New York Jets on June 18, the third team that’s released him since training camp last summer.
After a disappointing rookie season with the Packers in 2023, Carlson was in a battle to keep the job in his second year. But the Packers’ former sixth-round draft pick continued to struggle and he was released when the 52-man rosters were announced at the end of August.
Carlson found a new opportunity with the San Francisco 49ers, though his time there was brief. After signing to the 49ers practice squad, he kicked in two games after the team’s top two kickers went down with injuries.
In two games, he went 5-for-5 on field goals with four of his makes coming from 40 yards or more, and was 3-for-4 on extra points. Carlson also made a then-career-high 55-yard field goal in his first game with the 49ers.
But after going 6-for-6 on kicks in a win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football,” he was again released.
The Jets, who struggled with kicking early in 2024, gave him a chance. He signed with the Jets practice squad before being elevated for five games later in the season.
Carlson went 8-of-10 on field goals and 9-of-11 on extra points. While the inconsistencies that were prevalent in Green Bay started to show in New York, he did make a new career-long 58-yard field goal.
But he was cut before the end of the season when the Jets gave the kicking duties in the final game to another former Packers kicker, Greg Joseph.
Joseph and Carlson spent last summer competing for the Packers starting job that later went to rookie Brayden Narveson, who also didn’t last long in Green Bay, either. He was cut after six games with the Packers and the Packers finally found a solution with veteran Brandon McManus.
Carlson, however, would return to the Jets shortly after the 2024 season ended through a reserve/futures contract. In a corresponding move on June 18, the Jets signed Harrison Mevis, also known as “The Thiccer Kicker,” who made 20 of 21 field goals for the United Football League’s Birmingham Stallions this spring. Joseph is also still with the Jets.
Carlson will again look to find a new home ahead of training camp.
Anders Carlson stats
Anders Carlson stats with Packers (2023 season)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Packers kicker Anders Carlson cut by New York Jets
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
