Packers sign kicker Ramiz Ahmed to 90-man roster

The Green Bay Packers are officially back to having a kicking competition. On Sunday, the team has reportedly signed free agent kicker Ramiz Ahmed to the team’s roster. The news was first revealed by Ahmed’s agent, Paul Sheehy of Pro Star Sports.

Ahmed’s only previous NFL experience was a brief tenure with the Chicago Bears in 2020. He signed with the Bears that April, brought in to compete with incumbent Eddy Pineiro. However, Ahmed was released midway through training camp and the Bears ended up acquiring Cairo Santos shortly before the season, and he has been their place-kicker ever since.

Instead, Ahmed kicked in the USFL this summer with the Pittsburgh Maulers. Ahmed did connect on the longest field goal in the USFL all season, with a 61-yarder, but he struggled with consistency. Playing in all 10 of the Maulers’ games, Ahmed made just 14 of his 22 field goal attempts (64%) and was only 7-for-10 on extra points for Pittsburgh. He also threw a 14-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal.

Ahmed’s college career was unusual, as he did not play football for his first two years out of high school. Ahmed was a member of the University of Nevada football team for two years after making the team as a tryout player before his junior year of college in 2017. He would win the full-time kicking job as a senior in 2018, going on to connect on 15 of 20 field goal attempts (75%) and 40 of 45 extra points (89%). During that season, Ahmed was a teammate of Packers rookie receiver Romeo Doubs, who put up 562 receiving yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman.

This signing underscores the unsettled nature of the Packers’ special teams at present. The team’s longtime veteran kicker, Mason Crosby, remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list with a knee issue. Meanwhile, rookie Gabe Brkic has yet to impress in training camp, and he badly missed a 32-yard field goal attempt in Friday’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Ahmed and Brkic will presumably compete for kicking duties as long as Crosby remains unavailable due to his injury.

The Packers will need to remove a player from the 90-man roster to make room for Ahmed. Additionally, the team must cut the roster down to 85 players on Tuesday, the first of three cut-down dates during training camp in 2022.