The Dallas Cowboys will try out four kickers on Tuesday at their training camp facility. The four kickers are the placekicker and punter, Brett Maher, the 25-year-old Matt Ammendola, Cole Murphy, and JJ Molson.
The upcoming evaluation follows a string of setbacks for undrafted rookies Jonathan Garibay and Lirim Hajrullahu from Texas Tech.
Although on Monday, Hajrullahu converted 84.7 percent of field-goal attempts (50-of-59) from behind a live rush in camp, including an 8-for-8 performance and Garibay going 6-of-8, raising his summer rate to 55% (33-for-60), the Cowboys appear to expect more.
“Just want to get a look at the best available kickers right now,” Will McClay, the Cowboys’ vice president of Player Personnel, said.
“What we were expecting out of the guys at the position hasn’t been at the level we want right now,” McClay added. “The kicker’s job is to kick the ball through the goal post. We are looking for guys who can do that more consistently.”
Will McClay tells reporters the Cowboys will work out four kickers: Brett Maher, Matt Ammendola, Cole Murphy, and JJ Molson.@1053thefan
— Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) August 8, 2022
Will Cowboys replace current kickers?
It is unclear whether the Cowboys intend to replace one or both of their current kickers. Or even if they will move at all. McClay stated that the team will have no more than two players.
Both Hajrullahu and Garibay’s struggles in the camp have been well documented, particularly with Garibay who was targeted by the coaching staff to win the job. Garibay has also missed a few extra points due to his inability to adjust to the varying winds here at camp.
The Cowboys’ search for a kicker will most likely continue until the final cuts, as the players brought in for a tryout on Tuesday were already on the street and available for the season. If they were the best options, they would already be with one of the league’s other 32 teams that have two kickers on their roster for training camp.
Four potential kickers
Maher signed for his second stint with the Cowboys and spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons with a different coaching staff in Dallas, where he made 80.6% and 66.7% of his field goals, respectively. In 2019, he set a franchise record with a 63-yard conversion.
The Cowboys let the 32-year old go after his late-season struggles in 2019. They signed Zuerlein to a three-year, $7.5MM contract in 2020, but also let him go in March of this year.
In 2021, Maher improved to 88.9% (16-of-18) for the New Orleans Saints last season but signing him would be a step back for the Cowboys. At the very least, they are looking in the rearview mirror for assistance on the road ahead.
Ammendola is also not inexperienced. He signed with the New York Jets and served as the team’s kicker until December 4, 2021. Prior to his release, he was 13-for-19 (68.4%) on field goals and 14-15 (93.3%) on PATs.
Murphy is coming off a season in which he made 11 of 12 field goals for the USFL’s Michigan Panthers. He converted 9 of the 11 extra points he attempted. From 2014 to 2017, Murphy was a standout kicker at Syracuse.
The only thing that makes @_colemurphy_'s 60-yard field goal even better is listening to the mic'd up version of it 🔊🔊
cc: @USFLPanthers pic.twitter.com/DpMCDzbM9H
— USFL (@USFL) May 29, 2022
Molson was UCLA’s kicker from 2016 to 2019. He spent the spring with the Packers before being released in May.
Murphy and Molson have yet to make their NFL debuts as kickers.