When Brett Maher missed his first four extra point attempts while the Dallas Cowboys soundly defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, we all shucked it off in the moment due to the margin of victory that continued to grow. There were bigger fish to fry and other things to celebrate.
Brett Maher is no longer Dallas’ kicker
Of course, that was only true because the Cowboys defeated the Bucs so soundly. Had that game been close or if Dallas had lost then Maher’s misses would have wound up as one of the biggest stories in the NFL (not to say that it wasn’t massive anyway). The drama surrounding his attempts heading into the Divisional Round was well-documented and when his first extra point was blocked it did not look promising. As a result of the last month, it should come as no surprise to learn that the Cowboys are going to be hitting the rest button at kicker in 2023.
Jerry Jones says the Dallas Cowboys are starting over at kicker
The Cowboys are in full-on offseason mode and this week are spending time at the Senior Bowl evaluating potential draftees. With an opportunity to stand in front of microphones and cameras, they provided a number of updates on Wednesday afternoon and we chronicled all of them for you right here. We also discussed them in the video below this paragraph.
The Cowboys addressed things like their commitment to Dak Prescott, how they could restructure his deal over the offseason, their thoughts on Ezekiel Elliott, continued interest in Odell Beckham Jr., and much more. But something else trickled out after the initial flurry.
While this again is not surprising by any means, Jerry Jones did take the opportunity on Wednesday to note that the team will be “starting over” at kicker. This seems like a pseudo announcement that Brett Maher will not be back with the team in 2023.
Maher struggled mightily during the playoffs
The Cowboys stuck by Maher in the Divisional Round as noted, and while they did lose he was hardly the reason why. While it is unfortunate the way that things ended with him it should not be lost on anyone that Maher turned in a remarkable season for the Cowboys.
We all remember how we felt back during training camp when it was announced that the team was bringing in Maher for a workout given how things ended with him during his first stint with the team. But he turned in a season where he was extremely reliable and where he was 90.6% accurate on field goals, a career high for him.
Given the stage that Maher’s poor game came on it was something that a lot of people saw and therefore something they will have trouble forgetting. Hopefully he gets another NFL opportunity in the future, but it does not seem like it will be with the Cowboys.
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