Broncos trade for kicker Brandon McManus, waive Mitch Ewald

The Denver Broncos addressed the Matt Prater suspension by trading for a kicker. They also waived rookie kicker Mitch Ewald.

Brandon McManus, a former New York Giants first-year player, is now a Denver Bronco, ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported.

Broncos trading a conditional 7th-round pick to NYG for K Brandon McManus, per source. Kicking insurance while Matt Prater is suspended.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 26, 2014

The conditional 7th-round pick will only be traded if McManus remains on the roster after Matt Prater's suspension, the Denver Post reports.

McManus (6-3, 201 pounds) is a first-year player who connected on both field goal attempts (46, 47) and recorded touchbacks on 10-of-11 kickoffs for the Giants this preseason.

He spent the 2013 preseason with Indianapolis after being signed by the club as a college free agent from Temple University on April 30. He converted his only field goal attempt with the Colts - a 50-yarder against the Giants.

McManus finished his collegiate career as Temple's career leader in points scored (338), field goals made (60) and attempted (83) and punting average (45.4). He won the 2012 College Football Performance Awards Specialist Trophy as the nation's best overall kicker.

Interestingly, the Giants had already decided to waive McManus in favor of veteran Josh Brown. The Broncos could have waited for McManus to be waived and put in a claim for him. However, being slotted 31st in the waiver wire process put them at risk of missing out on a kicker they liked. They chose to use a (conditional) 7th round pick instead.

According to the Denver Post, "multiple teams" were expected to put in a claim for McManus, including the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I think Brandon will kick in this league," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Tuesday (via ESPN). "He's a very powerful young man. Needs a little bit of work on the finer kicks, but certainly he demonstrated his ability to kick it through the back of the end zone."

Said the Giants' Brown: "It's never fun. He was upset, and it just as easily could have been the other way. He's one of those guys, he's going to be a lifer. He's going to be a 10-year guy. He's got that kind of talent, and he's got that kind of head on his shoulders."

Clearly McManus impressed a bit more than the competition the Broncos brought in, Mitch Ewald.

Is McManus a four-week replacement for Prater or a permanent one? We'll just have to wait and see.