OXNARD, Calif. (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Cowboys have seen enough of the kicking struggles in camp and are planning to bring in former kicker Brett Maher and three others for a workout on Tuesday, Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay told reporters on Monday, including 105.3 The Fan's Bobby Belt.
Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News was the first to report the news of the workout.
Matt Ammendola, Cole Murphy and JJ Molson are the other kickers scheduled to compete in the session.
The Cowboys kicking battle between undrafted free agent Jonathan Garibay and Lirim Hajrullahu has become a key talking point since camp opened, mainly due to Garibay's inability to make kicks. Hajrullahu has had the upper leg in the competition thus far but has been perfect on his kicks just once in practice, which came during Monday's session when he went 8-for-8 on his field-goal attempts.
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According to Gehlken, Hajrullahu has converted 50-of-59 kicks (84.7%) "from behind a live rush in camp," while Garibay made just 33 of his 60 attempts (55%) under the same circumstances.
Maher, 32, spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons in Dallas. His time with the Cowboys came to an end midway through the 2019 season when he was cut after converting only 20 of his 30 field-goal attempts (66.7%). At that time, the 10 misses were more than any other NFL kicker had in a season in the past four years. He was much better in 2018, knocking down 29-of-36 field-goal attempts (80.6%).
Maher didn't kick in 2020 but did go 16-of-18 (88.9%) on his field goals last season with the New Orleans Saints.
Ammendola, 25, made his NFL debut with the New York Jets last season, converting 13-of-19 kicks. His 68.4% conversion rate was 30th among qualifying kickers in 2021. The former Oklahoma State kicker was released in March in favor of former Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein.
Murphy, a former Syracuse graduate, went 11-of-12 (91.7%) on his field-goal attempts while playing this past season for the Michigan Cardinals of the USFL.
Molson, a UCLA product, spent parts of the 2020 season and the entire 2021 season on the Green Bay Packers practice squad. He was released in May.
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