One day after releasing veteran kicker Brandon McManus, the Denver Broncos are hosting former Cowboys kicker Brett Maher for a workout on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. Maher became a free agent in March after Dallas opted not to extend his contract for another season.
After a full season of consistent kicking, Maher had one of the worst performances in NFL history in the Cowboys’ first playoff game versus Tampa Bay. He missed four extra points before finally making a fifth. He became the only kicker in NFL history to miss four extra-point attempts in a single game.
Maher’s issues carried over into the next week as well. He had an extra point attempt blocked and even without the block, it looked like the ball was going to head wide left.
During the regular season, however, the former Nebraska kicker hit on 90.6% of his field goals and 50 of 53 extra-point attempts. In the postseason, he made two field goals with a long of 43 and went 1-for-6 on extra points.
For the 2022 season, Maher was on a one-year deal worth $965,000. It was Maher’s second stint with the Cowboys. He also kicked in 2018 and 2019 for Dallas, although his percentages were much lower on field goals earlier in his career. In those first two seasons, however, he missed just one extra point.
Besides Dallas, Maher has also spent time with the Texans, Saints, Cardinals and Commanders.
McManus an option for Cowboys?
The Broncos released veteran Brandon McManus on Tuesday after he spent nine seasons in Denver.
He cemented his starting role for them in 2015 and, most notably, helped the team win Super Bowl 50 over the Carolina Panthers.
For his career, McManus is 81.4% on field goal attempts and 96.9% on PATs. He also has a touchback percentage on kickoffs of 69.3%.
Do the Cowboys have an interest in McManus? Well, according to special team’s coach John Fassel, “anybody else on earth” could be “under consideration.”
“We have Tristan [Vizcaino] on the roster. Anybody else on Earth who is not on the team right now, is under consideration,” Fassel said, via the team’s website. “That’s everyone really. I think we have a lot of different guys that we’re still looking at — XFL, USFL, veterans on the street, younger guys who still haven’t found their way.”
McManus was an undrafted free agent out of Temple when he joined the league and eventually landed with Denver in 2014. So far, there haven’t been any reports of the Cowboys bringing him in for a workout but that could be on the horizon as Dallas looks to secure a new kicker by training camp.
