Brandon McManus went from Denver to Duuuval due to old-fashioned relationship-building

Brandon McManus made it a point before almost every game with the Denver Broncos to strike up conversations with opposing kickers and special teams coaches.

One of those pregame chats was last year at Wembley Stadium in London, before the Broncos played the Jaguars. It was there that McManus met Jaguars special teams coach Heath Farwell for the first time.

Like any good businessman, it wasn’t just idle chatter. It was about making contacts with an eye to the future.

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“Being in the league as long as I have, pregame, I talk to the coordinators, try to build a relationship with them,” McManus said Tuesday after the Jaguars OTA session at TIAA Bank Field. “You never know when the time comes. I talked to Heath during pregame in London, introduced myself and we had a great conversation.”

McManus reaches out

The time came when the Broncos cut McManus on May 23 over salary cap issues (saving them $5 million), McManus wasn’t content with leaving it all to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to work the phones.

After Rosenhaus called Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke to gauge his interest, McManus then called Farwell — a disciple of veteran NFL special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who had coached McManus for two seasons — and made his own sales pitch.

“I talked to Heath about who I was and some of the things I could bring to the table,” McManus said. “It was still up to [Baalke] but we had a good conversation.”

McManus said he made contact with at least a half-dozen teams. But according to reports the Jaguars guaranteed him $2.35 million for one year (McManus was due to make $3.65 million with the Broncos, according to Spotrac.com) and two days after he was waived, the Jaguars signed him after trading Riley Patterson to Detroit on May 25.

McManus is one of only three NFL kickers to connect on two field goals of 56 yards or longer in one game and he is the fifth-most productive scorer among active kickers, with 100 or more points in each of the last four seasons and 946 points for his career.

He has a career 81.4 percentage on field-goal attempts and has never missed more than three extra-point attempts in a season. However, he slumped a bit to a 77.8 percentage among starting kickers -- which could be related to having a new holder and two long snappers during the season.

“I’m happy Trent and [Jaguars coach] Doug [Pederson] wanted me,” McManus said. “So I’m happy to be here.”

McManus has long-distance leg

McManus, 6 feet 3, 201 pounds, made 28 of 36 field-goal attempts last season (.778) and scored 109 points. Patterson made 30 of 35 attempts (.857) in his second NFL season and connected on his last 23 of the regular season, plus three more in two playoff games — including the biggest walk-off kick in Jaguars history, a 36-yarder to complete a comeback from a 27-0 deficit to the Los Angeles Chargers in a 31-30 victory.

But Pederson called on Patterson to attempt only three field goals of 50 yards or longer (he made two) and the team wanted a kicker who could produce more touchbacks. McManus has made 40 of 72 field goal attempts of 50 yards or longer (55.5) and has a career-long kick of 61 yards.

McManus has increased his percentage on long-distance attempts over the past three seasons: 23 of 37 (62.1), with eight of 13 last seasons and 10 of 15 in 2021.

“I can’t say enough about Riley and what he did for us last season,” Pederson said of the kicker the team signed the week before the opening game after auditioning four other candidates. “Obviously it was a huge kick in the Chargers game … we wish him the best. But anytime you can add a player like Brandon, who’s got the experience … and to get something [a draft pick] for Riley … it’s just an opportunity to help us get better as a football team."

Prolific in the playoffs

McManus also brings playoff experience to the Jags. In 2015, his best season (125 points, 30 of 35 field goals made), he set a Broncos postseason record with 10 field goals, five in a 23-16 divisional round victory over Pittsburgh and three more in Super Bowl 50 when Denver beat Carolina 24-10.

“We had a great run and hopefully I can have an equally great run here,” he said of coming to the Jaguars. “Kickers can play a long time. This is an up-and-coming team and I’m looking forward to bringing my leadership here.”

McManus said that kicking game-winning field goals is fun, “but it’s better when you can do it in the playoffs.”

He has yet to miss a postseason field-goal attempt.

What about altitude?

Concerns about whether McManus’ kicking stats are deceptive because he played at the higher altitude in Denver can be eased simply because he has a better percentage on field goals in away games — six percent higher, in fact.

In the last three years, McManus made 57.1 percent of his attempts from 50 yards or longer at home, and 68.1 percent on the road.

“Altitude, I guess, helps you kick further but you still have to kick it straight and between the yellow posts,” he said.

He also will benefit by having a veteran long snapper and holder combination in Ross Matiscik and Logan Cooke.

“It makes it easier … they’ve been doing it for multiple years together,” McManus said. “I’ve had a lot of holders in my career, which is not the best thing. They’re both pros and great at what they do. Field goal operations [with the Jaguars] are very smooth and simple. Efficiency is the biggest thing for us [kickers], making sure we’re able to do the same thing every time. It’s like clockwork for us.”

Perhaps the Jaguars have finally found their kicker. Since Josh Lambo suffered an injury in week two of the 2020 season, 13 kickers have played in preseason or regular-season games.

If McManus is the opening-game kicker, make it 14.

Farwell also considers it a good sign for the program in general that McManus made the overtures he did.

“He was a guy who wanted to play here,” Farwell said. “I think that just gives you a picture of where the culture has gone. Players who are free agents after getting released want to play here and it was a great opportunity to get better as a group.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Brandon McManus used his contacts within the NFL to sign with Jaguars