'You Dirty Dog!' Cowboys Might Draft Kicker, Joke About Special-Teams Changes

PHOENIX - Coaching special teams apparently comes with a special brand of humor.

Dallas Cowboys brass has gathered here in Phoenix for the NFL owners meetings offering one serious take on special teams ... leaving special-teams coordinator John Fassel to handle the jokes.

The serious business? The search for a kicker.

The joke? "Bones'' Fassel finding a bittersweet way to deal with the loss of linebacker Luke Gifford, who moved on to the Tennessee Titans via free agency.

First, to the pressing matter of kicker ...

"We'll look young in the draft,'' COO Stephen Jones said of using a pick on a kicker. "It'd be nice to start with a young guy that can go out there and be successful and have the right nervous system to be successful and have a guy around here for three or four years. That'd be the perfect fit. ... Certainly, we're going to try solve it one way or another.

"Right now, I think it's certainly an itch that needs to be scratched at some point."

The Cowboys will be moving on from Brett Maher but have signed Tristan Vizcaino - apparently with competition to come.

And now to The "Bones'' Comedy Hour ...

Fassel took Gifford migration comedically personally, according to one of Gifford's new supervisors.

"The special teams coordinator in Dallas, as soon as it became public knowledge that we'd agreed to terms, I get a text and it was like: 'You dirty dog, you stole my guy,'" Titans general manager Ran Carthon said here in Arizona, per the official team site. "He had nothing but great things to say about Gifford."

Gifford departs Dallas after four seasons, developing a niche as a special teams ace. Last season saw him tie for fifth in the NFL in special teams tackles with 15. He now joins the Titans on a two-year, $4 million deal as he embarks on his fifth season as an undrafted entrant out of Nebraska.

In his new settings in Nashville, Carthon believes that Gifford can contribute not only in his usual area of expertise but on defense as well.

"I think he can help us on defense as well," he said. "Obviously, he has to go out on the field and prove it. But at minimum, we have a really, really good special teams player."

Carthon and Fassel's paths previously crossed in 2012-16 with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. Fassel was the Rams' special teams coordinator while Carthon was the director of player personnel.

And now? The Titans grab a Cowboy ... and the Cowboys might draft a kicker.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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