Ranking the Cowboys five best options at kicker with Dallas now considering 'anybody on earth' for the job (2024)

With under four months to go until the start of the upcoming NFL season, the Cowboys have a small problem: They have no idea who their kicker is going to be this year.

Their kicker last year was Brett Maher, but the team essentially gave up on him after he went through one of the most painful postseasons by any kicker in NFL history. Maher missed four straight extra points in the wild-card round against the Buccaneers before missing another extra point in a 19-12 divisional round loss to the 49ers.

The Cowboys currently have one kicker on their roster -- Tristan Vizcaino -- but he's no lock to make the team. As a matter of fact, the Cowboys are so desperate to bring in competition that they're going to consider "Anybody on earth" as a possible kicker, according to special teams coordinator John Fassel.

"We have Tristan on the roster. Anybody else on Earth who is not on the team right now, is under consideration," Fassel said,via the Cowboys 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."

So who should the Cowboys consider? We decided to rank their top-five options.

1. Robbie Gould

After watching Maher miss six kicks in his playoff career with the Cowboys -- five extra points and one field goal -- it feels like the team's best option at this point would be to bring in the most accurate kicker in NFL postseason history. If you don't want your kicker missing kicks in the playoffs, then Gould is the guy you need to call.

Gould currently holds the NFL record for most field goal attempts in the playoffs without a miss (29 of 29). To put that in perspective, only two other kickers in NFL history have even hit 15 playoff field goals without a miss: Evan McPherson (19 of 19) and Chris Boswell (16 of 16).

Not only has Gould been perfect on field goals, but he's also been perfect on extra points in the postseason (39 of 39), which puts him on a tier of perfection above McPherson and Boswell, who have both missed at least one extra point.

The 40-year-old is a free agent right now because he mutually agreed to part ways with the 49ers after six seasons. If there's a knock on Gould, is that his leg strength isn't quite what it used to be, but that might be something the Cowboys are willing to sacrifice to land the eighth-most accurate kicker in NFL history. Gould has hit 86.5% of his career field goals despite kicking in challenging environments throughout his entire 17-year career. Before signing with the 49ers, he spent 11 seasons in Chicago (2005-2015) and one season in New York with the Giants (2016).

Putting Gould indoors for the first time in his career might actually make him better. If the Cowboys do sign him though, he likely won't come cheap, which is something they'll have to take into consideration since they only have roughly $10.6 million in cap space.

2. Mason Crosby

When you're looking for a kicker in the NFL, one thing coaches want is someone they can trust, which is why Crosby would make some sense here. Before being hired by the Cowboys, Mike McCarthy spent 13 seasons as the Packers head coach and Crosby was his kicker for 12 of those seasons.

When it comes to the postseason, Crosby has hit 91.3% of his playoff field goals over the past 10 years (21 of 23). One of the biggest playoff kicks of Crosby's career even came against the Cowboys while McCarthy was still with the Packers.

He's also a perfect 70 for 70 on extra point attempts in the playoffs.

If you're wondering why Crosby is on this list, it's because it seems that he's definitely done in Green Bay. The Packers haven't renewed his contract and his wife seemed to hint that Crosby will be moving on.

If there's one knock on Crosby, it's that he's lost some leg strength. At 38, he doesn't have the power that he had early in his career. Last season, he went just 1 of 4 from 50 yards or longer, although he did hit a 56-yard field goal in Week 17 against the Vikings.

That being said, after spending his entire career kicking on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, Crosby might actually thrive if he were to be giving a chance to kick indoors. The Cowboys have definitely mentioned Crosby as a possibility, but it's unclear how interested they might be. However, it does seem like the Cowboys would prefer to bring in a veteran to compete with Vizcaino and Crosby fits that bill.

"It's probably the easier way (to go) because you know more what you're going to get," Fassel said of bringing in a veteran. "If you're going to bring them in, you've got to be excited about what it is. There's veterans on the street right now -- let's face it, there's Mason, there's Robbie, there's (Ryan) Succop. There's a lot of guys that have performed at a good level in the NFL, and you weigh that against everything else."

3. Luis Aguilar

If you've never heard his name before, don't worry, most football fans had never heard it before this past weekend. Aguilar is currently the kicker for the USFL's Philadelphia Stars and he's coming off one of the most impressive kicking performances in the history of professional football.

During Philly's 24-21 win over New Jersey on Sunday, Aguilar scored ALL 24 points by going a PERFECT 8-for-8 on field goals, including a game-winner from 55 yards away.

In the win, Aguilar made kicks from 56, 55, 51, 49, 42, 36, 27 and 22. It was the kind of performance that instantly puts a kicker on the NFL's radar.

Aguilar slipped through the cracks due to a rough final season at Northern Arizona where he hit just 9 of 17 field goals (52.9). However, in the two season before that, he hit 88.9% of his kicker (31 of 35) and he even won the Fred Mitchell award in 2019, which goes to the best non-FBS kicker in the country (You have to play at an FCS, Division II, III, NAIA or NJCAA school to be eligible for the award).

After going undrafted and unsigned by the NFL in 2022, Aguilar ended up inking a deal with the Stars in May 2022. Through five weeks of his first USFL season, Aguilar is 10 of 12 on field goals -- with one of those two misses being blocked -- and he's done that even though he also serves as the Stars' punter, which he won't be asked to do in Dallas.

If the Cowboys want to go with a wild card candidate, this would be their guy.

4. Tristan Vizcaino

Right now, he's the only kicker on the Cowboys' roster and it wouldn't be completely crazy to give him the job. Vizcaino doesn't have a ton of NFL experience, but he has been accurate in his spot duty, hitting 11 of 12 field goals during his career. However, there are two thing that might slightly worry the Cowboys here. For one, he struggled with extra points in 2021, hitting just 66.7% with the Chargers (10 of 15). He's also NEVER attempted a field goal longer than 47 yards, so it's hard to say how confident the Cowboys would feel on kicks beyond that range.

5. Call the 49ers

The 49ers drafted a kicker this year, which means they might be open to dealing away the veteran who's already on their roster. For San Francisco, that's Zane Gonzalez. The 28-year-old actually had a phenomenal 2021 season, hitting 90.9% of his field goals for the Panthers, but then he missed entire 2022 season with a groin injury.

The Panthers gave up on him in March and traded him to San Francisco. The 49ers used a third-round pick on a kicker this year (Jake Moody) and it seems highly likely he'll make the roster, so they might be willing to deal Gonzalez away for cheap.

The Cowboys could also call the Patriots. New England just drafted Chad Ryland, who will likely soon be replacing Nick Folk. The 38-year-old Folk actually started his career in Dallas back in 2006, so if he returned to the Cowboys, it would bring his career full circle. Folk might not be the sexiest name on this list, but he gets the job done. He's ranked in the top-8 in field goal percentage in two of the past three seasons. However, Folk has struggled with extra points since they were moved back to 33 yards in 2015 and that might be a turn off to the Cowboys.

Other candidates and why the Cowboys likely wouldn't be interested):
Randy Bullock: Has hit just 66.7% of his field goals (14 of 21) between 40 and 49 yards over the past two years.
Ryan Succop: Has hit just 55.6% of his field goals (10 of 18) from 45 yards or longer over the past two years.
Brett Maher: Jerry Jones seems to be over him.

Although Jones seems ready to move on from Maher, Fassel said turning back to their old kicker is an option that's on the table.

"I think everything's on the table," Fassel said. "Let's face it, if you look at Brett, he had a great year. He had a bad game. But he played 22 games, but he had a bad game-and-a-half. I think everybody's on the table. I'm proud of what Brett did last year. If he gets a shot here or somewhere else, I'm sure he'll perform well."

Maher only missed three field goals in 2022 (29 of 32) and two of those came from 59, so it's certainly possible that Fassel will try to convince Jones that bringing him back is the best option.

No matter what happens, there's going to be a spotlight on the Cowboys kicking competition this year and it should be one of the most entertaining battles that any team holds at training camp this year.