Former Vikings Kicker Wins Packers Camp Battle Despite Tough Summer

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Greg Joseph, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers
Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings have signed their fair share of Green Bay Packers players in recent years and received mixed results. Now, former Vikings kicker Greg Joseph is poised to be the Packers kicker in 2024 despite a rough performance in training camp.

Former Minnesota Vikings kicker wins Green Bay Packers training camp battle

Joseph began his NFL career in 2018 with the Miami Dolphins. He spent the last three seasons as the Vikings kicker. After three consecutive one-year contracts, Minnesota let him walk this offseason. They replaced him with highly touted Alabama rookie Will Reichard.

Related: ESPN 2025 NFL mock draft gives Minnesota Vikings a top All-American

  • Greg Joseph stats (Pro Football Reference): 50-of-63 on field-goal attempts (79.4 percent), 76-of-84 on extra-point attempts (90.5 percent) in 2 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings

Green Bay hoped it would have much more success with the veteran than the Vikings coaching staff did. Brought in to challenge Anders Carlson, Joseph got off to a hot start in Packers training camp. However, things quickly unraveled, both on the practice field and during the preseason.

Winning isn’t always pretty, just ask Greg Joseph…

Late into Packers training camp, Joseph had made less than 80 percent of his field-goal attempts in practice. The battle between he and Carlson was tight all the way up until the final hours of cut day. But eventually, Green Bay released Carlson and listed Joseph as the starting kicker on its depth chart.

Joseph’s career splits might be of concern to Green Bay before long. In his career, Carlson has made just 81.5 percent of his field-goal attempts when kicking outdoors and he has just an 80 percent success rate on 10 career attempts in January.

Related: Minnesota Vikings insider reveals why Stephon Gilmore chose team

As for the Vikings’ new kicker, Reichard has impressed the coaching staff at every turn this preseason. He finished with an 87.5 percent success rate, drilling 7-of-8 attempts. While it’s still early, it backs up the confidence Minnesota had in the two-time All-American kicker and 2023 SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.

There certainly remains a possibility that Joseph could be cut in the days to come if Green Bay finds an option it likes better. At least for now, though, the person who missed plenty of kicks and angered Vikings fans for several years is now set to be the Packers kicker this season.

Related: NFL kicker rankings 2024

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