Dallas Cowboys sign kicker Brandon Aubrey from USFL Birmingham Stallions

The Dallas Cowboys have signed kicker Brandon Aubrey to the roster ahead of training camp, which begins at the end of July, according to multiple reports.

Aubrey wrapped up a season with the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions after wrapping up an MLS career and a collegiate career playing soccer for Notre Dame.

In 2017, Aubrey was a first-round draft pick for Toronto F.C. of the MLS. They released him after one season, and he then signed with the United Soccer League team Bethlehem Steel.

Aubrey made his debut as a football player after going in the USFL’s 2022 Draft to Birmingham. His contract with the Stallions lapsed on July 3. During the season, he went 14 for 15 on field goals and 35-for-35 on point-after attempts.

The newest Cowboy grew up in DFW and played soccer for the Dallas Texans. He gives the team 89 players on the roster heading toward camp in Oxnard, California.

Cowboys move on from Maher following XP mishaps

Dallas chose not to re-up on Brett Maher after he became the first kicker ever to miss four extra-point attempts in a single game last season. The roster still has one other kicker, Tristan Vizcaino, but McCarthy wasn’t ready to hand him the job without a challenger.

“I’d definitely say it’s fluid,” McCarthy said during OTAs. “We’ll continue to work that. XFL, USFL, we’re looking at all the options. We definitely want to have competition at the kicking position.”

Cowboys special teams coach John Fassel also made headlines with the way he described the search for additional competition.

“Anybody else on Earth who is not on the team right now, is under consideration,” Fassel said, via the team’s website. “That’s everyone really. I think we have a lot of different guys that we’re still looking at — XFL, USFL, veterans on the street, younger guys who still haven’t found their way.”

If Vizcaino ends up winning the job, the Cowboys would start a kicker who’s made 11-of-12 field goals over the last three seasons. He’s also 15-for-20 on extra-point attempts.

Last season, Maher hit on 90.6% of his field goals and 50 of 53 extra-point attempts in the regular season. In the postseason, he made two field goals with a long of 43 and went 1-for-6 on extra points.

For the 2022 season, Maher was on a one-year deal worth $965,000. It was Maher’s second stint with the Cowboys. He also kicked in 2018 and 2019 for Dallas, although his percentages were much lower on field goals earlier in his career. In those first two seasons, however, he missed just one extra point.