Tag: lirim Hajrullahu

Cowboys agree to terms with K Lirim Hajrullahu

#Cowboys agree to terms with K Lirim Hajrullahu:

The Dallas Cowboys have agreed to terms with kicker Lirim Hajrullahu. The news comes just one day after Hajrullahu had a workout with the team.

The update comes via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero:

Hajrullahu joins the Cowboys as starter Greg  Zuerlein continues his stead on the PUP list with a back injury. It’s expected that Zuerlein will be back in the fold once the regular season starts.

Prior to the Cowboys’ preseason game vs. the Arizona Cardinals, Zuerlein was spotted taking kicks during warmups, so all signs still point to that being true.

In addition, Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweeted Tuesday that “there has been no setback” with Zuerlein, citing a source.

The Hajrullahu workout does make one wonder if there might be any changes to injury status, however, it could still just be a temporary move.

Punter Hunter Niswander had been handling all kicking duties for the Cowboys through training camp. According to the Dallas Morning News, Cowobys head coach Mike McCarthy also said on Wednesday that Niswander was “having an issue” which helped prompt the Hajrullahu addition.

Hajrullahu, 31, is a Canadian Football League veteran, having played for three squads from 2014 to 2020. He was named a CFL All-Star twice.

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Report: Cowboys working out CFL kicker before clash with Texans

The Cowboys maintain Greg Zuerlein will be fine Week 1, but he remains on the PUP list. Now the team is looking at a former CFL All-Star. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys are, to hear them tell it, all set at the kicker position, despite the fact that their presumed specialist remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list. And that last year’s punter- who the team has all but admitted won’t be sticking around long because there’s a different punter waiting in the wings- has been learning how to kick field goals and extra points for the first time this preseason.

Now, just a couple days before the club’s third preseason game, Dallas is reportedly bringing in another kicker.

Yep, all set there.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero explained Tuesday that the Cowboys have scheduled a workout with free agent Lirim Hajrullahu. The 31-year-old is a Canadian Football League veteran, having played for three squads from 2014 to 2020. He was named a CFL All-Star twice.

The Carolina Panthers signed him to a reserve/future contract earlier this year, but waived him soon after. Prior to that, Hajrullahu spent the 2020 offseason with the Rams, where he just missed overlapping with special teams guru John Fassel, now the coordinator in Dallas.

Fassel has expressed confidence that kicker Greg Zuerlein will be fully ready for the start of the regular season following offseason back surgery. Hunter Niswander, the young punter who took over for an injured Chris Jones last year- and then kept the job- has been handling all kicking duties during training camp. The club, though, has made it clear that they expect Bryan Anger, signed in April, to be their punter in 2021, and that Niswander was being allowed to learn kicking in camp to help him to build resume tape.

While Niswander is seen as the odd man out, the Hajrullahu workout does raise questions about the team’s kicking specialists heading into the season. They appear to have no kickers they have full confidence in for Saturday’s game.

Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweeted Tuesday that “there has been no setback” with Zuerlein, citing a source.

Zuerlein took warmup kicks prior to last week’s preseason tilt in Arizona; Anger did the holding for those and was active for the game, punting once. Niswander handled kicks, as he did in the Hall of Fame Game. He is 4-of-6 on field goal attempts with one PAT conversion this preseason.

With Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy putting more importance on the team’s third exhibition game, perhaps the Niswander Kicking Experiment has reached its end. Or possibly Zuerlein isn’t as close to a return as the team would like. Or maybe Fassel wants to help another promising leg (who has ties to his friends on the Los Angeles staff) build some tape himself. Or perhaps he’s just staying abreast of current options, as he- and special teams coordinators in general- are prone to do.

Or maybe the kicker who fled his native war-torn Kosovo as a boy and has now found his way to America’s Team is just too good a Hard Knocks story to pass up. Even if it is just for a couple weeks.

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Report: Titans to work out former CFL kicker Lirim Hajrullahu

The Titans are reportedly already looking at potential reinforcements at kicker.

After seeing kickers Tucker McCann and Blake Haubeil struggle on Day 2 of training camp, the Tennessee Titans are reportedly already looking at reinforcements.

According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the Titans are set to work out former Canadian Football League kicker, Lirim Hajrullahu.

Hajrullahu spent six seasons in the CFL, two apiece with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He posted a field goal success rate of 83.3 percent in that span, and also served as a punter.

A multi-time All-Star, Hajrullahu also posted field goal percentages of 87 and 88.1 percent in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

The Kosovo-born kicker has tried his hand in the NFL, but without success. He was cut by the Los Angeles Rams in favor of former Titans kicker Sam Sloman in 2020, and had a brief stint with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 before getting cut.

Back in May, Hajrullahu was named The Spring League’s South Division Player of the Week after going five-for-five in a game, which included a successful conversion of a 59-yard attempt.

While it’s good to see Tennessee bringing in more potential help to join their kicker competition after McCann and Haubeil struggled on Thursday, Hajrullahu still lacks the NFL experience the Titans need.

On Friday, head coach Mike Vrabel revealed the Titans have hired former University of Tennessee kicker James Wilhoit to help coach the position.

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Panthers sign former Oklahoma State kicker Matt Ammendola

Darin Gantt says they’ve signed former Oklahoma State kicker Matt Ammendola, who will compete this offseason with Joey Slye.

The Panthers have brought in another kicker to replace Lirim Hajrullahu, who was waived last week.

Darin Gantt says they’ve signed former Oklahoma State kicker Matt Ammendola, who will compete this offseason with Joey Slye.

In college, Ammendola connected on 60 of 78 field goal attempts (76.9%) and 179 of 183 extra points (97.8%).

Like most players at his position, Ammendola went undrafted last year. Since then he’s been working with former NFL kicker Nick Novak.

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Panthers sign K Joey Slye to 1-year contract extension

Panthers sign K Joey Slye to 1-year contract extension.

Panthers kicker Joey Slye did not have a great 2020 season. However, he’s still only 24 years old and isn’t expensive to keep around. The team just announced that Slye has signed a one-year extension, keeping him under contract through the 2021 season.

Slye went 29/36 on field goals and 33/36 on extra point attempts this season. While he still has tremendous range, coach Matt Rhule clearly lost confidence in him late in the year. Slye did not kick a field goal the last three games.

Right now Slye still has to be considered the No. 1 kicker on the roster, but he may have a legitimate competition when the offseason program begins. Yesterday, the team signed former CFL kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to a futures contract.

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Report: Panthers re-sign K Lirim Hajrullahu to futures contract

According to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic, the Panthers have re-signed former CFL kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to a futures contract.

According to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic, the Panthers have re-signed former CFL kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to a futures contract. Hajrullahu spent a few days on Carolina’s practice squad late this season but was cut due to an issue with his work visa.

Players who sign future contracts typically wind up on the practice squad the next season. However, Harjullahu may have a legitimate chance at making the roster in 2021.

The Panthers’ starting kicker Joey Slye had a disappointing 2020 season, finishing the year 29/36 on field goals (80.6%) and just 1/6 on attempts of 50 or more yards. At the end, coach Matt Rhule wouldn’t even allow Slye to try. He did not attempt a field goal the last three games of the season.

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Report: Panthers must waive practice squad kicker over work visa issue

Hajrullahu was born in Kosovo but has played professionally in Canada the last few years.

According to a report by Tom Pelissero at NFL Network, the Carolina Panthers have been informed that they need to waive practice squad kicker Lirim Hajrullahu over an issue with his work visa. Hajrullahu was born in Kosovo but has played professionally in Canada the last few years.

Harjullahu was the fourth emergency kicker that the Panthers have kept around this season in case something happens to Joey Slye. Kaare Vedvik, Kai Forbath and Taylor Bertolet have also filled that role.

Slye has had issues with long field goals this season, but he was perfect in Sunday’s loss to Denver.

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Report: Panthers sign another emergency kicker to practice squad

For his career, Hajrullahu has made 47 of 55 field goal attempts and averaged 44.1 yards per attempt as a punter.

The Carolina Panthers have been keeping an emergency kicker around on their practice squad for most of the 2020 season. That role has been filled by Kaare Vedvik, Kai Forbath and most recently Taylor Bertolet. The latest is Lirim Hajrullahu, who is signing with the practice squad according to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic.

Hajrullahu comes to Carolina from the CFL. He got started with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where he played from 2014-2015. He’s also put in two years each with the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Rams had him on their roster earlier this year but he didn’t play a game.

For his career, Hajrullahu has made 47 of 55 field goal attempts and averaged 44.1 yards per attempt as a punter.

While Joey Slye has had some issues of late, we probably won’t see Hajrullahu activated unless Slye is injured or placed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. When asked about potentially changing kickers earlier this week, coach Matt Rhule said he’s “comfortable” with Slye.

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Rams kicking competition is ‘far from decided’

Sean McVay didn’t provide any clarity on which kicker is winning the battle.

Position battles across the Rams’ roster are beginning to settle themselves out. Micah Kiser and Travin Howard (if healthy) look like the starting inside linebackers, the offensive line has really taken shape, and John Wolford is undoubtedly the No. 2 quarterback.

One competition that isn’t close to being done is at kicker. Austin MacGinnis, Sam Sloman and Lirim Hajrullahu are still battling it out, and the winner may not be determined until the very last minute.

Sean McVay provided somewhat of an update on that situation, though he didn’t give any indications of who’s in the lead.

“You want to use every bit of the time that we have to really evaluate this,” McVay said Monday. “It’s certainly a very important decision for us and we have three guys that are very capable. The more opportunities that we can create to try to simulate those game experiences is what’s important. We’re going to take all of our time and I think all those guys have done a nice job, but it certainly is far from decided.”

None of the three kickers performed particularly well in the second scrimmage, which complicated things a bit. Hajrullahu seemed to be performing the best in practice and in the first scrimmage, but he only went 5-for-8 on Saturday, which matched Sloman; MacGinnis was 6-for-8.

The Rams will have to trim their roster to 53 players by Saturday at 4 p.m. ET, and it’s expected that two kickers will be among the 27 players released. We just don’t have any indication of which kicker will be the one the Rams keep.

Rams ‘not in a rush’ to pick a kicker, won’t rule out keeping two

Sean McVay left the door open for the Rams to keep two kickers, or stash one on the practice squad.

The Rams’ search for a kicker to replace Greg Zuerlein has not exactly been easy. They’ve turned over stones at just about every level of football, bringing in one kicker each from the CFL, XFL and college.

The mostly virtual offseason prevented the Rams from truly evaluating Lirim Hajrullahu, Austin MacGinnis and Sam Sloman before training camp, condensing the window to only a few short weeks. And you can bet the Rams are going to use just about every grain of sand in the hourglass before picking their kicker for the 2020 season.

With restrictions on what can and can’t be reported out of training camp, it’s hard to get a feel for which kicker has the lead in this race. Sean McVay hasn’t even indicated that one has pulled ahead when talking to the media. He said Wednesday that the team is going to take as long as it can to decide, indicating the competition will go right up to final cuts on Sept. 5.

“That’s a really important part of what we’re evaluating right now. All three guys bring certain things to the table. That’s another thing – it’s how many different pressure situations can you try to create in these practice settings to truly evaluate guys that are younger players? You’ve got a rookie and some other guys that don’t have a whole lot of experience at this level, but I think they’ve done a nice job. Coach (John) Bonamego has been excellent leading the way for them. … We’ll see if one of these guys starts to really separate themselves from the other two.”

McVay won’t rule anything out at this point, either. He didn’t shoot down the possibility of stashing an extra kicker on the practice squad, considering the NFL has increased the number of players a team can carry on its practice squad to 16.

“That’s a possibility, it’s something you can look into just given the fact that they’re expanding the practice squad rosters,” he said. “Those will be decisions we’re certainly not in a rush to make and we’re going to use every day that we have to really evaluate them.”

The fourth-year coach wouldn’t even guarantee that the Rams will only keep one kicker on the 53-man roster, leaving the door open for the possibility of retaining two of the three when the regular season begins – one for kickoffs and one for field goals.

Of course, the Rams would prefer to have a kicker who can do both, and McVay acknowledged that in his response.

“That’s always a part of the consideration,” McVay said of possibly keeping two kickers. “I think the ideal approach is to be able to have a guy that can do both. Just because of how minimal, even though you have the ability to have 48 guys up this year on the game-day roster, you want to be able to try to have that guy be able to do both, unless you’re in a situation when your punter ends up kicking off. We’ll let Hekker continue to be the best at what he’s doing with punting and holding.”

It seemed Hajrullahu pulled ahead slightly in the team’s scrimmage on Saturday after making all five of his kicks in the exhibition game. MacGinnis went 4-for-5, while Sloman lagged behind with a 3-for-5 showing.

However, in Wednesday’s practice, Hajrullahu missed two field goal attempts, which made the competition even more interesting.

The Rams haven’t committed to one kicker yet and they may not until they trim their roster, but time is running out for them to pick someone to replace Zuerlein.