After a successful tryout on Monday, the Green Bay Packers are signing kicker Lenny Krieg, a source told Packers On SI on Tuesday.
The transaction sets up a three-man kicking competition between Trey Smack, the team’s sixth-round pick this year, Lucas Havrisik, who kicked in a few games last season in place of injured veteran Brandon McManus, and Krieg.
Krieg is from Berlin, Germany. He is a remarkable story.
Burned out on soccer, Krieg took up the American game at the urging of his brother, who spent time in the United States. He learned how to kick through watching YouTube videos.
Krieg kicked for the Stuttgart Surge in the European League of Football. The potential he showed there got him an invite to the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. So, he quit school and his job in real estate to focus on a far-flung goal.
“It’s an honor for me to make this step and to show young players and perhaps even those who don’t play football, that this bridge can be crossed and that it’s never too late to change sport and have ambition,” Krieg told DW.com.
Krieg made all 14 attempts at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2025. He was only kicker who didn’t miss.
“He was better than most of the Americans,” one scout told ESPN.
A couple weeks later, Kraft’s performance at the IPP pro day led to a visit with the Atlanta Falcons, with whom he signed.
The Falcons’ special teams coordinator, Marquice Williams, was at the Scouting Combine as Krieg drilled one kick after another without even knowing the name of his holder.
“There was no complaining, no excuses. He just went about his business,” Williams said in May 2025. “That’s what I appreciate about him, because there will come times where it’s going to be on your shoulders and you got to take care of it. But that was cool to see that.
“He just went about his business, and he just operated at a high level.”
Krieg signed a three-year contract with the Falcons.
“I’m just going to keep working, keep improving, make the most out of it, take it day by day and see where it takes me,” Krieg told The Athletic.
Krieg spent training camp with the Falcons but was released at the end of training camp. In the preseason, he made his only extra-point attempt as well as a 57-yard field goal. He spent the season on Atlanta’s practice squad, then signed a futures contract with the Jets after the season. He was released by New York in June.
Now, he’ll get his shot with the Packers, which adds another layer into the kicking competition.
On the heels of Brandon McManus’ disastrous playoff performance, the Packers traded their two seventh-round picks to land Smack in the sixth round. The consensus best kicker in this year’s draft class, Smack was the first kicker off the board. The Packers not long thereafter dumped McManus.
Smack had an up-and-down set of offseason practices, which coach Matt LaFleur downplayed at the time.
“We’re still in the early stages,” he said. “Obviously, all you see is the results, but I think it’s just the whole operation. They’re all getting used to each other in regards to the placement of the ball, how we’re handling it.”
After three excellent seasons at Florida, Smack took things in stride.
“Just no reaction every single day,” he said. “It’s like, OK, I had a good day today. Last week, I had a bad day. It’s still the same reaction. …
“Practice is practice. It’s where you’re supposed to mess up. It’s where you’re supposed to fix things.”
Havrisik, meanwhile, made all four field-goal attempts against the Bengals and Cardinals, with a 61-yarder before halftime at Arizona setting the franchise record and being a critical play in Green Bay’s come-from-behind victory. He kicked in one more game, a win at the Giants in which he made 1-of-3 extra-point attempts in blustery conditions.
Havrisik kicked only once in front of reporters during the offseason. He made all eight attempts from the comfort of the wind-free Hutson Center.
“I think he’s done an outstanding job,” LaFleur said. “I think both those guys have done, have shown progress, and in terms of their consistency of how they’re kicking. And that’s what we expect. Every competition should bring out the best in each other.”
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