'Yips!' Cowboys Kicker Brett Maher: Does He Deserve 1 More Shot?

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher had a superb season up until the playoffs, but does he deserve a chance at redemption?

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher was having the time of his life on his redemption tour last season ... until that fateful night at Raymond James Stadium.

It was the stuff of nightmares as Maher would miss four consecutive extra-point attempts on the biggest stage of the year before nailing the fifth. But that didn't arrest the slide against the San Francisco 49ers as his "yips" continued. 

He would finish the postseason converting just one of six extra-point attempts (16.7 percent), and now Dallas seemingly has moved to correct that slide by re-signing former New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals kicker Tristan Vizcaino, a source told CowboysSI.com.

So where does that leave Maher, a soon-to-be free agent? Likely without a job in Frisco, but should Dallas pump the breaks on dismissing a player who, for the majority of the season, was exemplary at his position?

The regular season saw Maher convert 29 of his 32 field goal attempts (90.6 percent) and 50 of his 53 PATs (94.3 percent). And who can forget his two 60-yard bombs against the Minnesota Vikings? That was the defining moment and the page-turner of Maher's career in Dallas.

Until...

That fateful game against Tampa Bay. 

So, will the Cowboys discard a kicker who was so good during the regular season but failed spectacularly in the playoffs? He outkicked Vizcaino during tryouts at The Star after the Buccaneers game, as Dallas was worried about the position. ... and then came the collapse.

Does Maher deserve a shot at redemption after being "money" for most of the season? Or have the Cowboys had enough and see his kicking "yips" being incurable? Ownership has talked of "starting over'' at the position, and now comes Vizcaino being signed before Maher. That probably tells the story ... though Dallas' kicking struggles might still be a ways from being solved.

---

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Cowboys?

America's Team ALERT!

Get your Dallas Cowboys game TICKETS from SI Tickets ... here!

Follow FishSports on Twitter

Follow Adam Schultz on Twitter

Follow Cowboys / Fish on Facebook

Subscribe to the Cowboys Fish Report on YouTube for constant daily Cowboys live-stream podcasts and reports!