Vikings kicker Dan Bailey’s former boss speaks on why Bailey was let go

In the wake of the news that former Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey is now signing with the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys owner, coach, and PR guy Jerry Jones spoke today about why he let the second most accurate kicker in the league go.

KFAN said that Jones spoke on his radio show (yes, he has his own radio show) about why Brett Maher was the better fit for the Cowboys and the real reason — which is money.

“Well I think we got real comfortable with how [Brett] Maher was kicking, what kind of offseason he had,” Jones said. “But we, as you well know, felt that we could really get the same strategy, same impact that a kicker like Bailey gives us, we felt we could get that from another guy who fit our cap, fit our team better”

Jones went on to say that, “It’s what the other boy did. As much as Maher did as much as anything. He was very consistent, and if you had been at practice you could have probably seen, just in general, that we felt like the other player could perform as well and under the circumstances, that’s how you make your decisions.”

But back to the “fit our cap, fit our team better.” Bailey’s contract was $22.5 million and that would give him $3.4 million for the next three seasons. And let’s be honest, Jones isn’t trying to pay Bailey that much especially when he is only paying Maher $480,000 for this season.

Bailey’s accuracy is not the issue. His last season with the Cowboys he was “75% of his attempts and went 26/28 on extra points.” and prior to that he has had 88% accuracy for field goals and 99% accuracy on extra points.

Welcome, Bailey! We will take your minimum 75% accuracy any day of the week.