The Dallas Cowboys made a personnel change today and while it wasn’t the one many fans have been calling for, it was one that was needed.
The Cowboys released kicker Brett Maher after he missed key field goals in the last two Cowboys losses. He also botched a key late-game kickoff in last Thursday’s loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Cowboys signed Kai Forbath to replace Maher.
Signing the Patriot discard, Kai Forbath, was really the only move the Cowboys could make right now at kicker. Brett Maher was psychologically shot. Now the whole season could ride on a new guy named Kai. Insane.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 9, 2019
Brett Maher had been in the NFL for only two seasons and controversially replaced the Cowboy’s all-time best kicker, Dan Bailey, in 2018. Bailey was not only the Cowboys best kicker of all-time but ranked in the top two kickers in NFL history.
However, Dallas felt it was better to move on to a younger kicker rather than give Bailey a raise to stay in Dallas after a season where he only converted a low 75 percent of his kicks while battling injuries.
This season, completely recovered, Bailey is averaging 90 percent on his kicks with the Minnesota Vikings.
Meanwhile, Maher converted on 80.6 percent of his kicks in his rookie year, almost 10% lower than Bailey’s career average, and only hit on 66.7 percent of his field goal kicks this season.
Brett Maher ranked tied for 30th out of 32 kickers in the NFL this season that qualified for the kicker rankings.
The question for Dallas Cowboys fans is whether Kai Forbath is any better. In some bitter irony, it was Forbath that the Minnesota Vikings dropped when they brought in Dan Bailey in 2018.
#BREAKING: #DallasCowboys Cut Brett Maher, Sign Kai Forbath https://t.co/d4qoLDD8tS
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) December 9, 2019
In Forbath’s final season in Minnesota, he hit on 84.2 percent of his field goals. In 2018, he was a man without a team. He played in three games for the Jacksonville Jaguars that season, hitting four of five field goals. In 2019, he played in one game with the New England Patriots, hitting his only field goal attempt in that game.
Kai Forbath’s career field goal percentage is 85.8 percent, which is a step up from what Dallas Cowboys fans have seen recently from Brett Maher.