Tag: kicker competition

Report: Cowboys to work out new kickers, including Brett Maher

Brett Maher boomed several kicks of over 60 yards during 2 seasons with Dallas, but was let go after struggles from shorter distances. | From @ToddBrock24f7

With two kickers currently struggling in their battle for the starting job in Dallas, the team will reportedly bring in more competition.

That’s music to the ears of many Cowboys fans. But one of the kickers will be a song many wanted to never hear again.

Brett Maher, who kicked for the Cowboys in 2018 and 2019, is being brought back for a new tryout, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, who cited two individuals familiar with the situation.

Matt Ammendola, Cole Murphy, and JJ Molson will also come to Oxnard for workouts and a kicking evaluation.

Undrafted free agent Jonathan Garibay and former CFL star Lirim Hajrullahu have been underwhelming thus far at camp, though Hajrullahu seems to have taken a slight edge in his make percentage in recent days.

The Kosovo-born specialist went 8-for-8 on Monday, the first perfect day for either kicker in this year’s training camp. Garibay, the Texas Tech product, went 6-for-8.

Maher replaced Dan Bailey for the 2018 season. He ended that season with an 80.6% success rate on 36 field goals and connected on six of over 50 yards, including a then-franchise record 62-yarder versus Philadelphia. He repeated the feat early in 2019 with another 62-yard boot, and then hit a 63-yarder just a couple weeks later.

But frequent misses from more pedestrian distances led to his release in December of that season. He went on to practice squad slots with the Jets, Commanders, Texans, and Cardinals before landing with the Saints for a few weeks in 2021. He went 1-of-2 on field goal tries against the Cowboys in Week 13.

Ammedola was an NFL newcomer last season, making 13 of 19 field goals for the Jets, with a long of 49 yards.

Murphy comes from the USFL, where he went 11-for-12 with the Michigan Panthers, including a 60-yarder against New Orleans.

Molson is a UCLA alum who spent 2021 time on the Packers practice squad and was an emergency option behind Mason Crosby.

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Not their best foot forward: Both Cowboys kickers struggling early in camp

Two unproven specialists are battling for the starting kicking job in Dallas, but neither man seems to have much of a leg up. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys’ kicking competition was expected to be one to watch coming into training camp. So far, though, watching it hasn’t been pretty.

The team currently has two unproven specialists in Oxnard gunning for the regular-season roster spot. But based on their early performances to this point, it might not be surprising to see special teams guru John Fassel call in some other legs for a look-see.

Undrafted rookie Jonathan Garibay came to the Cowboys from Texas Tech with a 62-yard game-winner in college as his claim to fame. The California native was seen as the heir apparent to All-Pro Greg Zuerlein after the veteran struggled last year.

But then Dallas brought Lirim Hajrallahu back into the building last month. The ex-CFL star spent time in Cowboys camp in 2021 while Zuerlein rehabbed injuries. After a stint on the practice squad, he got the call in Week 10 and connected on five PATs versus Atlanta. He was released shortly thereafter and eventually signed with Carolina for the last three games of their season, hitting 4-of-5 field goals. Now he’s back for a second chance with the Cowboys and to give Garibay a battle.

But neither man seems to be putting their best foot forward.

Michael Gehlken reports that Hajrullahu went 3-for-8 with four straight misses on Tuesday. Garibay went 6-of-8, but missed two of his final three.

After that session, head coach Mike McCarthy called for one of his patented “Mojo Moments,” when a real-life game situation is suddenly announced and practiced on the fly.

Given how the Cowboys’ 2021 postseason ended, the team is working on racing the kicking unit onto the field with a running clock.

Hajrullahu got hurry-up field goal tries from 49, 54, and 59 yards. He missed the final two.

Garibay got the same chances. He missed them all.

Things were slightly more encouraging on Monday. Hajruallahu converted 7-of-8 tries and both his Mojo Moments. Garibay went 6-of-8 but missed both “Mojo” attempts.

McCarthy tried not to sound overly concerned about his kicking unit in his remarks to start the week, but he admitted that that phase of the game will receive extra attention for the next several days.

“It was their first time in front of a crowd, obviously, but also with the protection and rush behind them,” the coach said of his dueling specialists Monday. “It’s not what they were looking for. I think the thing that I walked away from practice [with] is we need to do more of it. Frankly, we’re going to kick every day this week. We’ll kick today and tomorrow, and we’ll kick Thursday and Friday. We’ve got to make sure we get both of those guys more opportunities.”

The Cowboys have lost four games in McCarthy’s two seasons by three points or fewer. Each of those losses saw Dallas miss at least one kick.

A summer breeze in Oxnard may have upped the degree of difficulty slightly for Garibay and Hajrullahu on Tuesday. But it bears remembering that the Cowboys will play outdoor games in Green Bay in mid-November, in Tennessee on New Year’s Eve weekend, and in Washington in early January.

The breezes may be more than stiff then; whoever ends up with the kicking job in Dallas had better develop the resolve to match.

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Cowboys sign Pro Bowl kicker Greg Zuerlein

Dallas will have some competition at the kicker position this year, as Greg ‘The Leg’ Zuerlein is reunited with his special teams coach.

After arguably waiting too long to create competition for kicker Brett Maher in 2019, the Cowboys are already causing his replacement Kai Forbath, to look over his shoulder.

Dallas announced the signing of free agent Greg Zuerlein on Friday afternoon, just days after inking Forbath to a one-year contract.

Zuerlein had spent his entire eight-year pro career with the Rams, but his deal expired last week. 2019 was a down year by Zuerlein’s usual standards; he went just 24-for-33 on field goals. The 2017 Pro Bowler has a 82% success rate on field goals in the NFL, though, and has hit on 98% of career PATs.

Greg “The Leg” will be reunited with special team coordinator John Fassel, who has also come to Dallas from the Rams.

Zuerlein was a sixth-round draft pick in 2012 — Fassel’s first year on the job — out of Missouri Western State University. His deal with the Cowboys is reportedly worth roughly $7.5 million over three seasons.

The important thing here will be the guaranteed money. If there isn’t much, Dallas has set up an outstanding kicking competition for training camp. If there is, than the Forbath deal might as well have never happened.

Forbath’s one-year, $1.05 million deal had only a $200,000 signing bonus.

In NFL history, only 22 field goals have been made from at least 60 yards; the 32-year-old Zuerlein has done it twice. Maher, of course, had done it three times before his mid-range struggles forced the team to release him with three games to go in 2019.

Forbath went 10-for-10 in three games as his replacement.

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Don’t Wrestle With Decision: Maher has to go, Cowboys long-term option exists

The Cowboys kicker is struggling mightily. Here’s who Dallas needs to call.

The Dallas Cowboys have to get a new kicker. Right now. Immediately.

According to Jerry Jones, the club is not going to fire head coach Jason Garrett in hopes of a miracle finish after a 6-6 start and somehow figuring out how to beat good teams after failing in their first five attempts. The fanbase has little faith this could happen, but one move they could make to improve those chances is to replace kicker Brett Maher, something that they’ve needed to do for a very long time.

They also need to replace special teams coach Keith O’Quinn, but with the writing on the wall  Garrett will be out at the end of the season, firing position coaches with just four games remaining seems out of the question, too.

Faith, or lack thereof, in your kicking game is one of the least acknowledged, but most influential parts of coaching there is in the NFL. When a head coach has confidence in his kicker’s ability to convert failed drives into points, it serves multiple purposes. A coach who knows their kicker is going to nail a 48-yard kick can take a shot beyond the sticks, or even into the end zone when faced with 3rd-and-long from the opponent’s 30-yard line. For two seasons the Cowboys have operated with zero ability to have that faith in Maher, and Garrett – a decidedly timid risk taker to begin with, has suffered mightily with this handcuff he has placed on himself.

The placekicker is hardly the biggest reason Dallas has been a major disappointment this year, but he has indeed been a big reason. Maher, after missing two more attempts in Thursday’s 26-15 loss to the Buffalo Bills is now down to under 68% on the 2019 season. There are 30 NFL placekickers who have attempted 14 or more kicks this season.

If Maher makes his two kicks, Dallas is within one score when they kicked off to the Bills with four minutes remaining. Instead of the onside attempt, which failed, they kick off deep and hope their defense can create a stop that gets them the ball back with a chance to win. That’s the difference made field goals can make.

Maher ranks No. 27 in the league. Even in a year of down kicking percentages across the entire league, Maher is a bottom feeder yet again. He ranked 25th last season, hitting just 80.6% of his kicks. During his stint in the CFL, he made 78% of his kicks. During his stint in college, he made 78% of his kicks. His NFL rate is now down to 75%.

As written back in February of this year, he’s not good.

A common refrain from the peanut gallery when the suggestion is made to replace Maher is, with who? Dallas waited too long, and while the team was watching Maher stink it up again on Thanksgiving, the New England Patriots signed the top candidate, Kai Forbath, after Nick Folk underwent surgery.

Back in October, Cowboys Wire ran this article, in which we identified Forbath among three NFL kickers along with still free agents Matthew McCrane and Cody Parkey.

Dallas needs to have those two players in Frisco, TX at The Star to workout for the team on Saturday. They have to show the rest of the players that failures of that magnitude, that consistent, will not be tolerated.

In that article, Cowboys Wire had fun with a Hollywood creation, but also brought up one CFL leg who is still of high interest and also needs to be in that Saturday workout, Sergio Castillo.

Bonus Offseason Name: Sergio Castillo (CFL)

Castillo has been kicking in the CFL for several teams over the last half decade, but really came into his own in 2017. Kicking for Hamilton, he made 29 of 34 kicks (85.3%), including a booming kick of 57 yards.

Then he tore his ACL in October and was out of football for 2018. He returned in 2019 for BC and went on to make 34 of 37 kicks, or 91.9%, including a 52-yarder.

It’s hard to get full information on CFL contracts, but it appears Castillo may be signed through the 2020 season, but it helps to know there is actually talent that could potentially come over from that league, and the club doesn’t have to end up with another Maher if they finally cut the cord.

Cowboys Wire has kept tabs on Castillo since that October article, and has learned although most CFL contracts do indeed run two years, Castillo has been released by the BC Lions after the league’s Grey Cup final this past Sunday.

Castillo is now free to tryout with any NFL team, though he cannot be signed until December 29th when CFL free agents can be signed to futures contracts for the 2020 season.

He won’t be able to help this year, but Dallas has a chance to solidify the position for the future while making a separate gesture to shore up the spot for the remainder of 2019.

His resume?

He’s a Texas kid, born in La Joya, TX and attending West Texas A&M University. Standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 185 pounds, he is not the typical kicker who wants to stay out of the spotlight and risks being shy in big moments.

Just look at his pictures.

Castillo finished the 2019 season at 91%, hitting 41 of his 45 attempts. Even better than that, he has experience punting as well, which if he was signed for the 2020 season, would allow Dallas to relieve themselves of Chris Jones, who has had two straight down seasons and has base salaries of $1.9 million and $2 million.

During a normal week, teams workout potential players on Tuesdays. With Dallas playing Thursday afternoon, this week’s Tuesday is actually Saturday, so this would be the opportunity to work out potential immediate and short-term replacements for Maher.

Find someone to finish this season, and then have he and Castillo in the offseason program to be the full-time kicker in 2020.

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