4 players the Jacksonville Jaguars won't miss in 2024

The Jacksonville Jaguars won't be missing Brandon McManus in 2024

The Jaguars have struggled to find long-term stability at kicker for a while. To their credit, they've tried several times to fix the position, even if their search failed to bear fruit. Last year, they thought that Brandon McManus could be the answer, and for a moment, it looked like he was.

The team's brass signed McManus not long after the Denver Broncos released him last offseason. To make room for him, they traded Riley Patterson to the Detroit Lions. Patterson had been reliable in 2022 but his dearth of range gave the team less than ideal field position and forced them to go for it on fourth downs more often than they would've liked. Patterson had no such issues.

Back in Mile High, McManus routinely nailed attempts from 50-plus yards out. The expectation is that he was going to do the same in Jacksonville even though he was coming off a down year. McManus did get off to a solid start to 2023, going 17-of-19 in the first eight games. However, he crumbled in the second half of the season, missing five of 17 attempts.

Once free agency came, the Jaguars didn't make an effort to re-sign McManus. They tried to lock up Wil Lutz but he ultimately chose to stay with the Broncos. In the end, things work out in Jacksonville's favor, as they found Cam Little in the draft.

Not only was Little the most accurate kicker at Arkansas but he's also got the required strength to make long field goals. Add the fact that McManus is currently dealing with a legal situation, and the Jags were right to cut ties with him.