Mason Crosby‘s time in free agency expires on Wednesday. The veteran kicker for the Packers, who has been invited to many workouts this season, has secured employment in Los Angeles. Mike Garafolo, a 16-year veteran, is joining the Rams, according to NFL.com tweets.
In keeping with their recent CBA practice squad policy, the Rams will hide Crosby there. However, Garafolo notes that the experienced specialist will soon be added to the active roster. For the previous few weeks, the Rams have been using rookie kicker Lucas Havrisik.
This season, Crosby had an in-season workout in Los Angeles. The Rams benched Brett Maher in October and promoted Havrisik from their practice squad. The team tried out a number of kickers before to taking the latter action. In the tryout, Crosby was joined by Matthew Wright, Austin Seibert, and Randy Bullock. At that moment, the team thought Havrisik was a viable choice. Crosby will return to California as competition a few weeks later.
Havrisik is 7-for-10 on field goals this season and has converted 10 of 11 PAT tries. In the last two games played by the Rams, the rookie has failed to make a field goal. Crosby would be the Rams’ third kicker of the season if he gets the opportunity to boot the ball. Over the last five games, the team has started Havrisik, following seven games in which Maher, a late-summer acquisition who became available after the Broncos acquired Wil Lutz, played.
Between 2007 and 2010, Crosby signed four contracts with the Packers, becoming a staple with Aaron Rodgers. This offseason, the NFC North team said goodbye to both by selecting Anders Carlson to replace Crosby and trading for Aaron Rodgers. The 39-year-old kicker helped the Packers win Super Bowl XLV 13 years ago and kicked in 23 playoff games despite some difficult times during his time with the team. After making 73.5% of his field goal attempts in 2021, Crosby rebounded to make 86.2% of them last season.
