Brandon Aubrey

Cowboys To Sign K Brandon Aubrey

The Cowboys enjoyed a nice return from a summer flier on a USFL player, seeing return man KaVontae Turpin earn All-Pro acclaim. The team will turn to the spring-summer league once again for specialty help.

Two-year USFL kicker Brandon Aubrey is signing with the Cowboys, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. Aubrey played for the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions over the past two years but has a soccer background. Prior to his kicker summers in Alabama, Aubrey was selected in the 2017 Major League Soccer draft. Aubrey is a Plano, Texas, native.

Aubrey, 28, joins Tristan Vizcaino as kickers on the Cowboys’ 90-man roster. While the likes of Robbie Gould, Mason Crosby and Ryan Succop are free agent options, Cowboys brass had previously indicated an XFL or USFL kicker would be considered. As training camp nears, a Vizcaino-Aubrey competition appears on tap.

Aubrey made 14 of 15 field goals for the Stallions this season and did not miss an extra point. The former Notre Dame soccer player helped Birmingham to its second straight title in the rebooted USFL. Aubrey also led this year’s USFL in touchbacks, with six. He auditioned for the Jaguars and Seahawks last summer but did not land with either team.

During his senior season at Notre Dame (2016), Aubrey earned first-team All-ACC accolades and third-team All-American honors as a defender. He then went to Toronto FC in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Toronto, which had assigned Aubrey to its United Soccer League affiliate, released the ex-Fighting Irish contributor after the 2017 season.

This qualifies as an unorthodox addition for a Cowboys team that saw glaring kicker concerns crop up during the playoffs. Brett Maher missed four extra points in the Cowboys’ wild-card win over the Buccaneers, and the veteran specialist’s struggles continued against the 49ers. Maher remains a free agent. The Cowboys did not rule out bringing back Maher, who has enjoyed two stints with the team, but the Aubrey addition points to the team looking at younger options to start camp.

Maher only wound up back in Dallas after its initial 2022 kicker plan bombed. A training camp competition between rookie UDFA Jonathan Garibay and young veteran Lirim Hajrullahu led to both players being waived and Maher, a mid-camp addition, winning the job. Maher spent last season as Dallas’ kicker, succeeding Greg Zuerlein in that role.

NFL Workouts: 7/29/22

Here’s a list of minor players who visited or worked out for an NFL team today:

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington Commanders

Howard had recently also worked out for the Saints, along with Bo Scarbrough, according to Nick Underhill at New Orleans Football Network. Howard has bounced between Philadelphia and Miami with limited success since averaging 1,123 rushing yards per season and totaling 24 rushing touchdowns in his first three seasons with the Bears. Injuries and limited productivity have really hurt Howard’s success over the past three years.

NFL Workouts: 7/25/22

As players are moved to the PUP and NFI lists and rosters are starting to take shape for the start of training camps, many players are searching for opportunities to make a team.

Here’s the list of players who have received workouts or taken visits today and this past weekend:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

New England

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans