Less than three weeks later, he was at the Green Bay Packers looking out at the farmland preparing for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans at Lambeau Garden.
McManus had signed with the Washington Commanders during the offseason, except for the two closest women who worked as flight attendants on the charter airline of his former team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were flying to London in September 2023 and filed a lawsuit accusing They accused him of sexual assault during the trip. On September 30, the NFL issued its findings that McManus would now face no disciplinary action.
“It’s been a tough time these last few months,” McManus said Wednesday. “I’m glad it’s a thing of the past. I hoped and worked hard to get another chance. I’m extremely grateful to the Green Bay Packers for giving me the next opportunity to come back here and play the game I love.”
McManus said Wednesday that the lawsuit has been “resolved” but declined to comment on whether there was a settlement or dismissal of the civil suit. Time Florida Court data shows depositions with the two women on record, attorney Brett Gallaway, who represents McManus, told ESPN in a statement Wednesday: “The case has been resolved. I look forward to seeing him play for the Packers on Sunday.”
A legal professional for the plaintiffs, Brandon Chase, did not respond to a message left through ESPN. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who is not included in the lawsuit but cited the extreme timing of his representation of the women, issued a statement on Sept. 30 announcing that the NFL never interviewed the women during its investigation.
A league source said the NFL reached out to Buzbee a couple of times to request a meeting, but never heard back. The league can reopen the investigation if there is unused evidence to believe.
Buzbee did not respond to a message left Wednesday seeking to determine if he was still involved in the case.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said the team closely followed the league’s investigation and, by doing its own background work, felt comfortable signing the veteran with an 81.4% career average in agricultural land objectives.
“I think it’s clear to us that he wouldn’t be available right now if those allegations hadn’t come to light,” Gutekunst said Wednesday. “But I think the league did a very thorough investigation and we leaned on that as we moved forward.”
“I’m not going to go into too many details,” Gutekunst added, “but we feel very, very comfortable with the acquisition.”
Gutekunst also said he had to listen to McManus before the Packers hired him.
“I had a really good conversation with Brandon last night… and his agent Drew Rosenhaus while we, last week, when these things became clearer within the league and he got through some other things, those conversations just picked up,” Gutekunst mentioned. “We wanted to make sure we did our due diligence. Again, we feel really good about where we are now. We’re excited to have him there.”
McManus spent his first 10 seasons with the Denver Broncos. In his only season at the Jaguars’ extreme pace, he hit 30 of 37 farmland targets and the remaining 35 problems.
The Packers have struggled in the kicking game since the middle of the extreme season, when then-rookie sixth-round pick Anders Carlson began missing farmland targets and outstanding issues. He missed at least one kick (field goal or end point) in eight of the ten regular season games, plus one in each of the two playoff games.
Brayden Narveson, who was waived Wednesday, joined the Packers on a waiver to announce future final roster cuts at the end of training camp. He missed five farmland goals in six games, the most of any kicker in the league. In total, he was 12 of 17 on farmland targets.
“I think in the current situation of our soccer team we know how important these games are,” Gutekunst mentioned. “I thought it was important that if we had the opportunity to get a veteran kicker who had been through some of these fires and some of the pressure that our team is going to go through in the next few weeks, I thought it was important that we acquire one. And I really “Brandon was the only one there.”
