Skip to main content
Join Now

Dallas Cowboys make final decision on Brett Maher, starting kicker for Divisional Round

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•01/21/23•

SamraSource

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher has extra point attempt blocked versus 49ers
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

It’s official — Brett Maher will get another shot to redeem himself with the Dallas Cowboys.

On Saturday, the Cowboys had the opportunity to elevate newly-signed kicker Tristan Vizcaino from their practice squad. It could’ve been as an insurance policy, it could’ve been as a replacement. However, Dallas decided against it.

Maher will be the team’s kicker in Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, following his embarrassing performance last Monday where he missed four extra-point attempts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“The Cowboys did not elevate K Tristan Vizcaino from the practice squad,” tweeted Field Yates of ESPN. “The team said all week it believes in Brett Maher and he’ll be the only kicker available tomorrow evening against the 49ers.”

Evidently, the video surfacing of Dak Prescott imploring Dallas to “Go for f—ing two” instead of trotting Maher back onto the field didn’t damage the kicker’s reputation enough. He had the yips last Monday, but Mike McCarthy still believes in the veteran.

Brett Maher will get another shot, while Tristan Vizcaino waits in the wings if he falters once again. Time will tell if it was the right decision.

Mike McCarthy delves into Cowboys decision to sign kicker Tristan Vizcaino

On Thursday, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy pulled back the curtain on the team’s move to add another kicker to the roster after Brett Maher‘s bad night during which he missed four extra point attempts.

The Cowboys signed kicker Tristan Vizcaino to their practice squad on Wednesday, but plan to stick with Maher on Sunday versus the San Francisco 49ers.

McCarthy revealed that the team kept Maher in the loop on their plans and said that he understood.

“Oh yeah, everybody understands,” McCarthy said. “That was handled from the start. We did something similar with Greg (Zuerlein) last year. This is just a part of… we expect to keep moving forward. Anytime you can add a quality player to your roster, you should.”

The Cowboys skipper reiterated that the team is behind Maher as they get ready to travel for the divisional round matchup on Sunday.

“It doesn’t take away anything from our trust with Brett,” McCarthy said. “We just want to make sure we’re in position to always add depth to our football team.”

During the media’s time on the practice field on Thursday, Maher went 6-for-6 while Vizcaino went 3-for-5 on field goals, according to The Athletics‘ Jon Machota.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this article.