Packers Sign German-Born Kicker, Create Three-Man Competition - Sports Illustrated

What the report says

Sports Illustrated’s Packers On SI reported that the Green Bay Packers are signing German-born kicker Lenny Krieg after a Monday tryout, adding another option at the position just before the team’s first training camp practice on Wednesday. The report, citing a source, said Green Bay also signed tight end Thomas Yassmin, with Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave on the physically unable to perform list.

The move initially appeared to create a three-way kicking battle among Krieg, sixth-round rookie Trey Smack and Lucas Havrisik. But Packers On SI reported that Green Bay released Havrisik, who had made a franchise-record 61-yard field goal last season while filling in for injured veteran Brandon McManus. The team also released an English edge player who had held an international roster exemption; Krieg is expected to take that international slot, according to the report.

Krieg, from Berlin, came to American football after playing soccer and developed as a kicker partly through online videos. He later played for the Stuttgart Surge in the European League of Football and entered the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. The article notes he made all 14 kicks at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, then signed with Atlanta, where he made a preseason extra point and a 57-yard field goal before spending the season on the Falcons’ practice squad. The Jets signed him to a futures deal after the season and released him in June.

The signing matters because Green Bay is still trying to settle its kicking situation after moving on from McManus and drafting Smack, the first kicker selected in this year’s draft. Smack remains the leading candidate, but Krieg gives the Packers another camp option.