Having used three Wil Lutz replacement kickers this season, the Saints might be preparing to try a fourth. Brett Maher is back on the team’s practice squad, as of Tuesday.
While Maher has not been one of the kickers the Saints have tried this year, he was with the team during the preseason. New Orleans had Maher on its roster for a week in August but moved on before the regular season began. A Maher groin injury led to his quick New Orleans departure. With yet another kicker scuffling, the Saints may be set to give Maher his first game action in nearly two years.
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The Saints have tried Cody Parkey, Aldrick Rosas and Brian Johnson this season. Johnson has been the team’s kicker for the past four games. He is 8-for-8 on field goal tries but has missed three extra points in eight attempts — including two misfires that made a big impact in Sunday’s loss to the Titans.
Maher, 31, has not kicked since the Cowboys cut him late in the 2019 season. He has been through numerous workouts and non-game-day stays with teams since. Between his Dallas exit and Saints signing in August, Maher was with the Jets, Washington, Texans and Cardinals. He has not been on a team this season.
Although Maher has limited experience for a 2013 UDFA, he was the first kicker in NFL history to have made three 60-plus-yard field goals. The Nebraska-Kearney alum and ex-CFL leg missed 10 field goals prior to the Cowboys cutting him in 2019. However, despite having spent his entire career kicking from the NFL’s modern PAT distance, the veteran kicker is 68-for-69 on extra points.
Serious question, why is it so easy to cut Kickers when they show any semblance of doing bad, most other positions are given time but Kickers seem to get a week or two before the team cuts bait. Unless you’re a vet like Tucker, Butker, or Crosby you’re doomed it seems.
I know the common sentiment is “who cares about kickers” but even from a contractual standpoint, don’t they have clauses to where it says if they get cut, the team would still owe them some money? Or count against the cap? Or is every teams’ kicker an undrafted free agent that they give $2 to and cut them as aforementioned?
Made 68 of 69 extra points in his career. I’d rather have him.