The Washington Commanders are adding a kicker after releasing Brandon McManus.
The Commanders signed Ramiz Ahmed on Tuesday, and he’s expected to be on the field with the team for an offseason workout Wednesday. The move comes during the Commanders’ third week of organized team activities and two days after they released McManus, who was accused by two women of sexually assaulting them on a flight last season, when he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ahmed, 28, made 10 of 13 field goals in six games this season for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League, the spring league that formed when the XFL merged with the USFL. The Stallions released him last week to make room for Chris Blewitt, who kicked in two games for Washington in 2021.
NFL franchises cannot contact players on UFL playoff teams until after their season ends. That league’s conference championship games are this weekend.
Ahmed went undrafted after making 15 of 20 field goals for Nevada in 2018. He signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears in 2020 but was released during training camp. After spending the 2021 season in the USFL, where he connected on a league-record 61-yard field goal, he was signed to the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad in 2022. Ahmed was elevated to the Packers’ active roster and handled kickoff duties for their Week 10 game against the Dallas Cowboys, his only NFL experience.
After the Commanders opted not to re-sign kicker Joey Slye, they signed McManus to a one-year, $3.6 million contract in March. By releasing McManus, the Commanders may have to absorb up to $1.5 million in dead money under the salary cap from his signing bonus. That figure could be less, though, depending on the forfeiture language in his contract and whether McManus violated it by not informing the Commanders of the alleged incident before he signed.
McManus’s attorney, Brett R. Gallaway, said in a statement Sunday that the “allegations against Brandon are and remain absolutely false.”
Washington has struggled to find a dependable kicker since releasing Dustin Hopkins, who spent six-plus years with the team, after Week 6 of the 2021 season. Blewitt replaced Hopkins but was released after having three kicks blocked in two games. Slye made all 12 of his field goal attempts in 2021 after replacing Blewitt but missed time with a hamstring injury, forcing Washington to sign Brian Johnson. Slye made 44 of 54 field goal attempts and 56 of 63 extra-point attempts over the past two seasons.
