The Dallas Cowboys added kicker Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad on Wednesday, just two days after Brett Maher missed an NFL record four consecutive extra points in the team’s playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Vizcaino has been in the league since 2020. He was most recently with the New England Patriots practice squad and has also spent time with the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the San Francisco 49ers.
He has appeared in three games this season, is 11-for-12 on field goal attempts with a career-long of 47 yards, and has converted 15 of 20 extra point attempts in his career.
Practice squad players do not count against the 53-man active roster, so Dallas would typically need to remove a player from its roster to have Vizcaino active on gameday. However, a recent provision allows teams to call up a practice squad player on a game-by-game basis.
Owner Jerry Jones initially said he would not be thinking about changing kickers because of Maher’s track record and his confidence in the kicker.
“No. No. We won’t [look at kickers this week]. He’s done enough good ones,” Jones told the media when asked about Maher’s performance on Monday night.
Maher was 29-for-32 on field goals and 50-for-53 on extra points this season.
However, Jones joined the Shan and RJ Show to discuss the Cowboys’ win and the road ahead and did not rule out adding another kicker.
“This is a classic case of looking at what he’s done for this team and done on the field all year, not just last night,” he told the show. “And, so, but kicking is a technical thing. It has everything to do with the – just frankly mentally having it all together when you step up there. And, so, we’ll read this thing as the week goes along.”
“It would really be a big setback to go into the rest of these playoffs with shakiness at kicker.”
He was also asked about the possibility of adding two kickers, which he acknowledged the team had done last season. They may have to implement a similar plan with Vizcaino in the fold.
ESPN’s Todd Archer reports that the team is still going with Maher on Sunday against San Francisco, but Vizcaino was signed as insurance in the case Monday’s performance was a sign of things to come.
