Anders Carlson only kicker on Packers’ roster now

Anders Carlson is the only kicker on the Green Bay roster after the Packers waived Parker White on Monday.

A South Carolina alumnus, White signed with the Packers in January. He had a tryout last year with Green Bay, but he wasn’t signed at the time and spent the 2022 season out of football.

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Carlson joined the Packers from Auburn in the sixth round of the NFL Draft on April 29. Green Bay made Carlson the first kicker it had drafted since Mason Crosby in 2007.

Crosby served as the Packers’ kicker for the past 16 seasons, but he remains a free agent this offseason. Crosby’s 1,918 points are the franchise record.

How long Carlson remains the only kicker on Green Bay’s roster and how long Crosby remains unsigned could be the same amount of time.

Earlier this offseason, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said he was “never going to close the door” on Crosby.

While Green Bay special-teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said the Packers were “prepared to weather the storm” with a rookie kicker, he didn’t close the door on Crosby either.

“We’re still in conversation,” Bisaccia said last week. “I think Brian’s spoken that the door’s not closed, and he’s not on anybody’s team yet. …

“I still think there’s play in Mason, and we’ll see what the future holds. I know he’s excited for what’s next for him in my conversations with him.”

But Bisaccia also is a Carlson booster. He met Green Bay’s rookie kicker in 2013 during the few weeks that he spent on Auburn’s staff.

Bisaccia also spent four seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders working with Carlson’s brother, Daniel Carlson.

“My history with the Carlson family goes way back to my cup of coffee at Auburn,” Bisaccia said. “My first home visit was at Daniel Carlson’s, and he, obviously, ended up going to Auburn, so I got to meet Anders a long time ago. And in our time at Vegas, Anders had come out there a couple of times and been on the grass with us to see his brother, so Daniel and I at times would take some of Auburn’s tapes and watch Anders when he was playing and we talked to him about some of the drills that we did and some of those things.”

Anders Carlson kicked for five seasons at Auburn, and his 410 points rank fifth in SEC history – 70 behind his brother’s league record.

In 2020, Carlson connected on 20-of-22 field-goal attempts. In his final two seasons, he went 26-of-38.

In 2021, Carlson tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on an onside kick during Auburn’s 43-34 loss to Mississippi State on Nov. 13 and missed the final three games of the season.

In 2022, Carlson got hurt against Mississippi State again as he tried unsuccessfully to stop Tulu Griffin on a 92-yard kickoff-return touchdown in Auburn’s 39-33 loss. A fractured humerus caused Carlson to miss the final three games again.

The knee injury caused Carlson to wear a brace in 2022, but he’s not wearing it now.

“A lot of people only look at stats – 71 percent coming out,” Bisaccia said. “But I look at the makeup of the person. I think he’s a strong mental-makeup person. I think he’s been at his best regardless of the circumstance. He’s been in a lot of big games. He’s kicked in a lot of different situations in the SEC. He’s kicked in many bowl games. I love his body structure and the power that he has and the ability to get stronger. And the ability to self-correct, I think, is a little bit of a family trait.”

On Monday, the Packers started Phase 3 of their offseason program, during which teams are allowed to conduct 10 days of organized team practice activity, often referred to as OTAs. No live contact is permitted, but teams can expand their workouts to include 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.