The NFL said Monday that it has concluded its investigation into former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus and would not be disciplining him at this time.
McManus is the subject of a lawsuit that alleges he sexually assaulted two women working on a team flight last year.
“There was insufficient evidence to support a finding that a violation of the personal conduct policy occurred,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement to several outlets Monday. “As always, if new evidence is presented it would be taken into consideration.”
The league interviewed 30 people as part of its investigation, but attorney Tony Buzbee, who is representing the two accusers, claimed his clients had yet to speak with the NFL.
“We are still working to schedule a meeting between the NFL’s investigators and our clients,” Buzbee said in a statement to ESPN. “The NFL hasn’t yet spoken with our clients so I’m a bit confused as to why anyone could conclude (there was insufficient evidence) at this point.”
McManus is a free agent and eligible to sign with any team.
Two women filed a lawsuit in May after McManus had signed a one-year, $3.6 million contract with the Washington Commanders. They accused McManus of rubbing and grinding against them while they staffed the Jaguars’ flight to London for a pair of games in October 2023.
One accuser said McManus tried to kiss her, and the other claimed McManus “smirked and walked away” after she confronted him about grinding against her.
The Jaguars also were named in the suit, as the women claimed the team did not provide a safe working environment on the flight. They said players, including McManus, disregarded air travel safety and the kicker passed out $100 bills to try to get the flight attendants to drink and dance.
Earlier this month, a Florida circuit court judge dismissed the accusers’ initial lawsuit because they used the pseudonyms Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II without “exceptional circumstances that outweigh the public interest in open proceedings.”
The women re-filed the lawsuits using their names three days later. They are seeking more than $1 million in damages and a jury trial.
In a counterfiling called a request for admissions, McManus’ lawyer claimed that the women drank on the job, had drug addictions, made sexually explicit social media posts and used a racial slur, among other things.
McManus, 33, spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career with the Denver Broncos before joining Jacksonville on a one-year contract in 2023.
–Field Level Media