Dallas Cowboys: Way too early 53-man roster prediction
By Randy Gurzi
Specialists (3)
Brett Maher, Chris Jones, L.P. Ladouceur
For years, the specialists in Dallas were locked in. Dan Bailey was the placekicker with Chris Jones serving as the punter — as well as Bailey’s trusted holder — and L.P. Ladouceur filling the role of long snapper. Then, a curveball was thrown last season.
Dallas unexpectedly cut Bailey as they trimmed the roster to 53 players, and they received plenty backlash for doing so. Bailey was a fan favorite and suddenly was being replaced with the inexperienced Brett Maher.
The staff contended that Maher proved he was the better option, but there was still the feeling that this was a salary cap move. In the end, Maher ended up proving them right. He had some hiccups along the way but finished with a respectable 80.6 percentage on field goal tries and was 32-of-33 on extra points.
Bailey ended up in Minnesota and was good for 75 percent of his kicks and was 30-of-31 extra points. Each kicker missed seven total field goals on the season, but Maher attempted 36 to Bailey’s 28. The difference was minimal, but the young man hit a couple of game-winners and even knocked in a 62-yarder at one point.
He keeps his job here, and the other two spots remain intact. Ladouceur simply keeps doing his job to perfection, even though he had that bogus call go against him in the loss to Washington.
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As for Jones, he keeps teetering around 44 yards per kick and has been as consistent a weapon as the team has had for several years in a row now.