Rams sign former Cowboys kicker Brett Maher
The Los Angeles Rams made an addition to their practice roster on Thursday, signing former Cowboys kicker, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Although he’s only on the practice squad for now, Maher could easily get the promotion to the active roster. Los Angeles doesn’t have a kicker on the active roster following the 53-man deadline on Tuesday.
Maher spent the offseason with the Denver Broncos. However, the Broncos released him before the deadline, instead adding Wil Lutz from the Saints.
During the 2022 regular season, the former Nebraska kicker hit 90.6% of his field goals and 50 of 53 extra-point attempts. In the postseason, he made two field goals with a long of 43 and went 1-for-6 on extra points.
After a full season of consistent kicking, however, Maher had one of the worst performances in NFL history in the Cowboys’ first playoff game versus Tampa Bay. He missed four extra points before finally making a fifth. He became the only kicker in NFL history to miss four extra-point attempts in a single game.
Maher’s issues carried over into the next week as well. He had an extra point attempt blocked and even without the block, it looked like the ball was going to head wide left.
In 29 regular season games in his career, Maher has hit 94 of 116 field goal attempts, good for an overall percentage of 81%. Over the last two seasons, however, with the Saints and the Cowboys, it was 89.5%.
On his career, from 50+ yards out, the former Cornhusker is 19 for 27. He’s also never missed a kick in a regular season game from 20-29 yards away.
Rams trade for Kevin Dotson
The Los Angeles Rams added some depth to the offensive line ahead of the 2023 season. The Rams traded ahead of the 53-man roster deadline to get Pittsburgh Steelers guard Kevin Dotson.
Dotson enters his fourth season in the NFL in 2023. He has played in 39 career games through his first three seasons, making 30 starts. The Steelers selected the offensive lineman in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor provided more details regarding the trade, which mostly involved draft selections.
Pryor tweeted, “Steelers and Rams swap 2024 4th and 5th. Steelers get the Rams’ 4th; and Rams get the Steelers’ 5th. In 2025, Steelers get Rams’ 5th rounder, and Rams get Steelers’ 6th.”
Dotson spent his college days at Louisiana-Lafayette. During his time there, he earned All-Sun Belt honors three times, receiving second-team recognition in 2017 and first-team honors in 2018 and 2019.
The Rams are coming off a disappointing season in 2022, finishing the year with a 5-12 record. It came right after Matthew Stafford led Los Angeles to a Super Bowl victory just a year earlier.
L.A. begins the 2023 regular season with a road game against the Seattle Seahawks. The West Coast foes kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 10.