Dallas Cowboys end Brett Maher era, sign Kai Forbath
After missing a league-high 10th field goal attempt on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys have decided to end the Brett Maher era and sign Kai Forbath.
It’s the end of an era for the Dallas Cowboys. The Brett Maher era, that is. The 30-year old kicker has been waived by the Cowboys on Monday after a two-year stint with the team. Maher currently leads the NFL with 10 missed field goal attempts through Week 14.
Maher surprisingly replaced long-time kicker Dan Bailey last year as the Cowboys primary kicker after hitting an impressive 57-yard field goal attempt during the team’s final preseason game. The former CFL kicker would finish his rookie season hitting 29 of his 36 field-goal tries (80.6) in 2018.
This season, Maher struggled, specifically from between 40-49 yards, where he was just one of five including a missed 42-yarder against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. He’ll end his near two-year stint hitting on 49 of his total 66 field goal attempts in Dallas (just 20-of-30 this season) and holding a franchise record after nailing a 63-yarder against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week Seven.
To replace Maher, the Cowboys have reportedly inked Kai Forbath. Undrafted out of UCLA back in 2011, Forbath originally signed with Dallas as a rookie free agent. But because of an injury, he’d never play for the Cowboys as that was the same year Oklahoma State’s Dan Bailey would arrive in Big D.
Forbath would end up kicking for the Washington Redskins for four years from 2012 to 2015. He’d bounce around the league, ending up with the New England Patriots for a single game this season where he’d hit a lone 23-yard field goal attempt and miss one of his two extra-point tries. Forbath has a career field goal percentage of 85.8.
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The 32-year old Forbath now joins the Cowboys, who currently sit atop the NFC East despite owning a dismal 6-7 record. With three games to go and the 5-7 Philadelphia Eagles snapping at their heels, Dallas will hope to get a consistence performance from Forbath to help them secure the NFC East crown and a postseason berth.