Getty Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has a conversation before an NFL game.
The Dallas Cowboys have made several key moves this offseason, but they may not be done improving the roster in free agency. The team could address the kicker position by signing former San Francisco 49ers starter Robbie Gould.
For the first time since 2017, Gould is looking for a new team as he enters his 19th season in the league. Gould was a clutch player for the 49ers, but the team has elected to move on after drafting former Michigan kicker Jake Moody.
Now, Blogging the Boys analyst Matt Holleran is naming Gould as a potential “final piece” for the Cowboys’ free agency plans.
“Thankfully for the Cowboys, one of the better ones to ever do it is still on the market. That guy is 40-year-old Robbie Gould. Gould was with the 49ers for the past five seasons and saw plenty of high-leverage kicking situations. While he wasn’t always automatic during the regular season, he was when it mattered most,” Holleran writes. “Over the course of his eighteen-year NFL career, Gould has never missed a playoff field goal attempt in 29 tries.”
Considering the Cowboys are coming off an NFL Divisional Round loss and returning much of the 2022 roster, they need a kicker who can get the job done in the postseason. Gould seems like a great candidate to get that done.
Gould Has Decorated NFL Career
Few NFL players make it past the 10-year mark, but Gould has nearly doubled that as he approaches the 2023 season. After 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears and an All-Pro selection, he spent a single season with the New York Giants before going to the 49ers.
Gould has cooled down to a solid level over the past four seasons, but his first two years with San Francisco were elite. Over that span, the 40-year-old kicker made 96.1% of his attempts, missing just three tries over 2017 and 2018 according to Pro Football Reference.
If there’s anything “unreliable” about Gould, it’s that he has had injury issues and missed games over the past few years. He played in every contest in 2022, but missed 10 games over the previous three seasons in San Francisco. His age only compounds the potential risk with injury, but the Cowboys should still consider Gould as a serious option.
Cowboys’ Kicker Situation
Dallas had several issues with their kickers in 2022, and avoiding that in 2023 could be critical to their division and playoff hopes. Holleran considers former kicker Brett Maher “good as gone” which leaves only Tristan Vizcaino.
Vizcaino has tried 12 kicks over his entire NFL career, with his first three attempts coming during a single appearance for the 49ers in 2020. According to Pro Football Reference, he went 3-for-3 on field goal tries and also made two extra points.
In fact, Vizcaino has only missed one field goal attempt of those 12 tries, but it’s still a dirth of experience rather than the plethora of in-game pressure that Gould has dealt with during his time with the Bears, Giants and 49ers.
The Cowboys may believe in Vizcaino, but they need to be absolutely certain considering someone of Gould’s caliber is available.