3 kickers Cowboys must sign immediately after Brett Maher’s nightmare

The Dallas Cowboys got a huge win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night but not everything went their way. Despite all the offensive output, Brett Maher struggled mightily and set an NFL record for missed extra points in a playoff game.

Maher, who missed his final extra point try of the regular season missed four in a row on Monday. It’s tough to see, especially after he made nearly 91 percent of his field goal tries and was 50-of-53 on extra points.

Still, Dallas cannot go forward with Maher as the kicker and feel confident in clutch situations. Of course, in the playoffs the options will be limited but here are three names to consider.

3 kickers Cowboys must sign to challenge Brett Maher

3. Austin Seibert

A fifth-round pick out of Oklahoma back in 2019, Austin Seibert only played 17 total games with the Cleveland Browns before they decided to move on. Overall, he wasn’t bad as he made 25-of-29 kicks but he also had issues with extra points with five misses in 2019.

He then missed one in Week 1 of 2020 and Cleveland moved on. Since then, Seibert played for Cincinnati and Detroit. He was 6-of-8 for the Bengals and then went to the Lions where he made 10-of-12 in 2021 but just 3-of-5 this season.

The good news is that he seems to have his extra point concerns figured out. Seibert made all eight with Cincinnati and 17 with the Lions. That means he’s hit 25 in a row and should be trustworthy when it comes to adding the point after the touchdown.

2. Cody Parkey

Cody Parkey is a veteran kicker and if he was asked, he probably would feel a lot of sympathy for Maher. Parkey knows that a bad performance can stick with a kicker forever — and he even has a kick known around the sporting world.

Back in 2019 while with the Chicago Bears, Parkey was called upon to end the Philadelphia Eagles season. Trailing 16-15 in the Wild Card Round, Parkey attempted a 43-yard field goal which was partially blocked by Treyvon Hester. It still had enough juice to get to the upright but then hit it on the left side, fell to the crossbar, and bounced off that.

The kick was dubbed the “double-doink” and it’s hard to hear Parkey’s name and not remember this miss.

However, he’s had plenty of success in his eight NFL seasons including his last full year in the league. While playing with the Cleveland Browns in 2020, Parkey his on 19-of-22 kicks and was 43-of-47 on extra points.

He was injured in 2021 and replaced by Chase McLaughlin but resurfaced with the Saints. He never had a field goal try but was 3-of-5 on extra points.

For his career, Parkey has made 84.6 percent of his field goals and 93.5 percent of his extra points. He’s not perfect but he’s been through a lot and could be an upgrade.

1. Rodrigo Blankenship

Being an NFL kicker is a tough job. They spend most of the game on the sideline waiting to get their number called and when that happens, they get one shot to deliver. And when they perform, all eyes are solely on them.

What’s worse is, they can be very good at their job but have a couple of mishaps shape their narrative. So it’s important for these guys to find a way to clear their minds. Some might do it through exercise, golf, or some other sport.

Then there’s Rodrigo Blankenship. The former Georgia Bulldog kicker explained how he gets in a “good headspace” and it invloves building legos.

"“In training camp, I was in competition with another kicker (Eddy Pineiro) to be the guy,” Blankenship said via Andrew Moore of Horseshoe Huddle. “There wasn’t anything else that I could do to help my case. I had kicked all the kicks that I was going to kick and so I just needed something to take my mind off of it. I picked up a little LEGO Ferrari set and that just put me in a good headspace while we waited for that time to come.”"

Blankenship did win the job with the Colts in 2020 and started out strong. He wound up being released however and has appeared in just eight games since that season.

This year, he was with the Colts for one game and Arizona for another. He was 4-of-5 on field goals and 4-of-5 on extra points as well between the two teams. Right now, Dallas would take those numbers.

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