Getty Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Dallas Cowboys are still in search of a veteran kicker, which could lead them back to Brett Maher.
Dallas had some kickers on their draft board but was unable to wrangle any of those options.
“That’s probably getting a little too into our strategies there,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters on April 29. “Obviously, we want to come up with the best solution that we can there, but we didn’t get the kicker opportunity that we thought we might get in the draft. And we had other priorities when we had a chance to get it. We took somebody else obviously.”
With the draft behind them, Jones said they’d be looking at a more veteran kicker and didn’t rule out the possibility of a reunion with Maher, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.
There aren’t a wealth of options available when it comes to kickers with resumes. Mason Crosby, Ryan Succop and Robbie Gould are available but giving Maher another shot doesn’t seem like a bad option.
Cowboys Wanted to Start Over at Kicker
The Cowboys previously said that they would be “starting over” at the kicker position after Maher flamed out in the playoffs.
He became the first kicker to miss four PATs in a regular-season or postseason game since the statistic was first tracked for individual players in 1932, per Elias Sports Bureau.
It was unfortunate timing for Maher to get the yips. He was consistent during the regular season, connecting on 29 of 32 field-goal attempts and was especially good from deep. He hit nine of 11 attempts from 50 yards or longer. Maher was also 50 of 53 extra-point attempts in 17 regular season games, which made his postseason meltdown even more painful.
The only kicker the Cowboys currently have on the roster is Tristan Vizcaino, who was brought in as an insurance policy during the postseason with Maher struggling. He has hit 11 of 12 of his career field goal attempts and 15 of 20 extra-point tries over four NFL seasons.
Ezekiel Elliott Reunion Also on Table for Cowboys
GettyFormer Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Another reunion on the table for the Cowboys is with Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys cut ties with the former rushing leader in March but he remains without a team.
The Cowboys drafted TCU running back Deuce Vaughn in the sixth round, but at 5-foot-5, he’s a much different style of runner than Elliott, who has been a reliable short-yardage back, especially around the goal line. It has seemed unlikely that Elliott could return to Dallas but Jones made it clear it’s still an option.
“Ship has not sailed,” Jones said, via the team website. “We haven’t made a decision. We’ve obviously drafted a running back, a little different style than Zeke, but it doesn’t change … For us, as far as our interest in Zeke, nothing we did today changes that.”
Elliott is coming off a year where he rushed for a career-low 876 yards. He did find the end zone a dozen times but he managed just 3.8 yards per carry.