FRISCO, Texas _ The Dallas Cowboys shocked the world with their final cuts on Saturday.
No, it was not the decision to keep tight end Rico Gathers on the roster one day after he was arrested by Frisco police for marijuana possession.
It was the surprising decision to cut Dan Bailey, the best kicker in franchise history and one of the most accurate in NFL history, for Brett Maher.
Maher opened eyes with a 57-yard field goal in the preseason finale against the Houston Texans on Thursday.
That along with his solid performances throughout camp helped him unseat Bailey when the team trimmed its roster down to 53 by announcing a host of roster moves Saturday.
Bailey has the club record for field goals in a career with 186 and is in the only kicker in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl (2015). He is the second most accurate kicker in NFL history, making 186 of 211 kicks in his career (88.2 percent).
But he was not himself last season when suffered a groin injury, causing him to four games, while missing two extra points and five field goals in the final five games.
The move certainly saves the Cowboys money. Bailey's cap hit in 2018 was $4.2 million. He was owed base salaries of $3.4 million in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Maher, who was with the Cowboys in 2013, has bounced around in the CFL. He returned to the Cowboys last April but does not have any NFL stats having yet to kick in a regular-season game.
It's definitely an end of the era for the Cowboys special teams and the beginning of a new one.
Gathers made the roster as the fourth tight end after being arrested Friday night in Frisco for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana. The Cowboys apparently saw enough in training camp and the preseason to continue the experiment with Gathers, who played basketball in college at Baylor. The other three tight ends are Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz.
