Hunter Niswander

Cowboys To Work Out Marquette King

By Sam Robinson | at November 7, 2020 5:24 pm

With Cowboys punter Chris Jones out with an injury, the team is bringing in a well-known free agent as potential insurance. Marquette King worked out for the Cowboys on Saturday.

King has not punted in an NFL game since the 2018 season, when the Broncos released him. He did, however, punt in 2020, doing so with the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks. Punter Colton Schmidt joined King at the Saturday workout. Although Schmidt joined King at the team’s facility Saturday, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News notes his workout will occur next week (Twitter link).

Best known for his six-season Raiders tenure and post-punt celebrations, King visited the Texans earlier this year. They opted to go in a different direction. The Cowboys have another punter on their roster, Hunter Niswander, who will handle that role Sunday against the Steelers.

King, who led the NFL in yards per punt in 2013 (48.9) and cleared 48 yards per boot in 2017, could serve as potential insurance while Jones is out. The 32-year-old specialist would need to go through six days’ worth of COVID-19 testing before practicing with the Cowboys, should they sign him.

Schmidt served as Buffalo’s punter for nearly as long as King was with Oakland. He punted for the Bills for four-plus seasons, but the team went in a different direction three games into the 2018 season.

As for Jones, he underwent abdominal surgery this week, Gehlken tweets. This will be Niswander’s first NFL game. He spent three seasons (2015-17) as Northwestern’s punter.