4:06pm: In order for the Giants to acquire that seventh-round pick from the Broncos, McManus will need to remain Denver’s kicker after Prater is eligible to return from his suspension, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post. It’s hard to imagine that happening, so I doubt a pick changes hands as a result of this deal.
Klis adds in a tweet that kicker Mitch Ewald has been cut to make room on the roster for McManus.
2:30pm: The Broncos have added some kicking insurance, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Brandon McManus has been sent to Denver by the Giants in exchange for a conditional seventh-round draft pick. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk first reported (via Twitter) that McManus had been traded instead of waived, as had been announced earlier today.
McManus, 23, lost the Giants’ competition to veteran kicker Brown, but he has a big leg, having reportedly made a 75-yard field goal in training camp, as well as frequently putting kickoffs 10 yards out of the end zone, per Bill Pennington of the New York Times. McManus was expected to draw interest on the waiver wire, so the Broncos – who would’ve been near the back of the priority list – prudently agreed to part with a conditional seventh-rounder, which figures to land near the very end of the 2015 draft.
Broncos kicker Matt Prater has been suspended for the first four games of the 2014 season, so McManus looks like a good bet to take over kicking duties in Denver for September. The Broncos had previously whittled their roster down to 75 players, so they’ll now have to make one more cut to make room for the former Giant.