Cowboys bring back Brett Maher to shake up kicker competition amid camp questions
The Cowboys tried to chalk it up to the Southern California winds.
They tried to champion the benefit of their kickers facing adversity in training camp when field goals fell short and wide in repeated practices.
Owner Jerry Jones even tried to insist that he was more concerned about extra points than field goals.
But by the third week of training camp, it became apparent that Dallas’ kicking pool was not superior to other available talent. So after working out four free agents, the Cowboys signed NFL and CFL veteran Brett Maher on Tuesday, the team confirmed.
The team released undrafted rookie Jonathan Garibay, whom they signed in the spring out of Texas Tech.
“The kicker’s job is to kick the ball through the goal posts, whatever the situation is,” Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay said Monday. “So we’re looking for guys that can do that more consistently.”
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With 33 days until the Buccaneers arrive for a "Sunday Night Football" opener, Maher and Lirim Hajrullahu now face off in the Cowboys’ kicking competition.
Maher was the Cowboys’ kicker for the better part of two seasons before Dallas waived him Dec. 9, 2019, following a two-game stretch in which he made just 1 of 4 attempts. The Cowboys lost those games by 11 and 7 points.
But in Maher’s 29-game Cowboys tenure, he was often reliable. Maher completed 74.2% of field-goal attempts and 98.6% of extra-point attempts. He missed just one of 42 kicks from the 20- to 29-yard range. And Maher’s first season featured 80.6% accuracy. Maher also registered the longest successful NFL field goal in 2019 (63 yards) and second-longest in 2018 (62).
He’s since spent time with the Jets, Commanders, Texans, Cardinals and Saints. Only with the Saints did he compete in games. Maher completed 16 of 18 field goal attempts in eight games with New Orleans last year.
Hajrullahu enters his second season in the NFL after playing in three games last year for Carolina and one with Dallas. He completed 4 of 5 field goal attempts and all three extra point attempts for the Panthers. Hajrullahu only attempted extra points in Dallas, but connected on all five in Dallas’ 43-3 decimation vs. Atlanta last November.
Hajrullahu had been more accurate than Garibay in camp, including a 7-of-7 practice on Monday, per multiple reports.
But questions remained.
“You just create opportunities,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday. “Particularly when you’re going with the young, less experienced specialists and just trust your evaluation.”
“You’re always evaluating, you’re always evaluating your current players vs. other teams. We commit a lot of time and energy to the team, so we just want to make sure we max it out.”
The Cowboys travel to Denver on Wednesday ahead of a joint practice and preseason game. They’ll practice and play against the Chargers next week.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dallas Cowboys sign Brett Maher to shake up kicker competition
