Lirim

Hajrullahu

The team also hosted kickers Cole Murphy and Matt Ammendola for workouts. Lirim Hajrullahu and rookie Jonathan Garibay have been battling for the starting gig in camp. Not pleased with what they currently have, the Cowboys may look to add one more body to the competition. For fantasy drafters trying to get Dallas’s kicker, it may be best to sit this one out for a few weeks.

Hajrullahu is a CFL legend who played one regular season game for Dallas in 2021 when Greg Zuerlein tested positive for COVID-19. He made all five of his extra points and did not attempt a field goal. Hajrullahu also had a stint with Carolina in 2021, making four of his five field goal tries with the Panthers. Hajrullahu will likely compete with undrafted rookie Jonathan Garibay in Cowboys training camp, and the winner of the kicker battle should be fantasy viable in a Dallas offense that generated the seventh most field goal attempts in 2021.

The Panthers signed Hajrullahu and he will presumably fill in as their starting kicker for the rest of the season with Zane Gonzalez on season-ending IR. Hajrullahu was signed to the Rams in 2020 after a successful stint in the CFL. He didn’t win that kicker competition but saw game action for the Cowboys this year in relief of Greg Zuerlein.

Greg Zuerlein is on the COVID list and is expected to miss Week 10 against the Falcons. Hajrullahu will immediately become fantasy-relevant in a bounce-back spot for the Dallas offense.

Greg Zuerlein is dealing with a back injury, but is still expected to play in Week 1. Hajrullahu provides an insurance policy is he isn’t ready to go. Head coach Mike McCarthy said that punter Hunter Niswander is “having an issue” while handling kicking duties, necessitating the Cowboys signing of Hajrullahu.

This comes as a surprise since Hajrullahu was reportedly leading the competition to replace Greg Zuerlein in camp. The job now becomes Sam Sloman’s, who the Rams drafted in the seventh round this year. Austin MacGinnis is also expected to be waived in the next 24 hours.

While the Rams blasted Twilight Zone music as Sloman kicked, the seventh round selection missed three of his eight field goal attempts. He was the only one of the three kickers to make his 53-yard try. Sloman was off target in the team’s first scrimmage too. When a team drafts a kicker, he usually makes the roster. But Sloman could very well lose out to either Lirim Hajrullahu or Austin MacGinnis.

MacGinnis, 25 next month, drilled all 10 of his field goals with the Renegades before the league collapsed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, MacGinnis was with the AAF’s Memphis Express last spring before that league went bankrupt. MacGinnis has never kicked in the NFL. He will compete with Lirim Hajrullahu to replace Greg Zuerlein in L.A. after Zuerlein signed with the Cowboys. Hajrullahu was also signed Monday out of the CFL. The Rams may not be done at kicker.

Hajrullahu has been the top kicker in the CFL the past few seasons. He converted 85 percent of his field goals last year and has the leg strength to hit from 50-plus. Hajrullahu will get a chance to replace Greg Zuerlein after the Rams moved on from him this offseason.