Cowboys Bringing Back Veteran Kicker Maher Amid Training Camp Competition

The Cowboys are signing veteran kicker Brett Maher and released rookie Jonathan Garibay, the team announced Tuesday. 

Maher, who previously played for the Cowboys from 2018 to ’19, will compete against Lirim Hajrullahu for the starting job. 

“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, per USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “So we’re looking for guys that can do that more consistently.”

Maher’s tenure in Dallas saw him make 29 of 36 field goals in 2018, but fell to 66.7% accuracy in ’19, though he did kick the longest field goal in the league that season (63 yards). He missed one extra point (32-of-33) in his debut season with the Cowboys and made every single attempt (36) in ’19. He was waived from Dallas in December ’19 after missing 3 of 4 field goals in two consecutive games the team ended up losing. 

He spent time with the Jets and Cardinals on reserve/future contracts as well as the Texans and Commanders practice squads. Maher signed with the Saints in 2021 where he appeared in eight games, making 88.9% of his field goals and 10 of 12 extra points.

Hajrullahu played for the Panthers and Dallas last season, going 4-of-5 in field-goal attempts and connecting with each extra point attempted (eight) for Carolina in three games. Though he did not attempt any field goals with the Cowboys, he did make all of his five extra points in one appearance. 

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