3 Cowboys players who will not be missed in 2023

2. Brett Maher, K

When the Cowboys released Dan Bailey in favor of Brett Maher in 2018, it was a shock. They weren’t exactly proven right either as he was up and down that season, making 29 of 36 field goals. Then in 2019, he was awful as he was 20-of-30 — although he did hit a franchise record 63-yarder, which is why they liked him as much as they did.

Maher was released late in the 2019 campaign and then had an eight-game stint with New Orleans in 2021. He did enough there to convince Dallas to bring him back for an audition when Jonathan Garibay was unable to win the job.

There was some apprehension but Maher proved to be a vastly improved player, hitting 29-of-32 kicks. However, he missed three extra points, including his last regular season attempt against Washington.

Those issues carried into the postseason as he whiffed on four straight against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It got so bad that there was a belief he would lose his job before their next game.

Dallas did stick with him but a fifth miss came early against the Niners, and while this one was blocked, it clearly was not heading in the right direction anyway.

Maher did knock in both field goal attempts against the 49ers, which had to help his confidence but it’s tough to see him returning after that playoff meltdown. And for that reason, he might not be missed much at all.