THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Rams are in the market for a new kicker.
Los Angeles on Tuesday released veteran Brett Maher, two days after Maher missed 2 of his 3 field goal attempts – those misses coming from 53 and 51 yards – and his lone extra point attempt in the Rams' 24-17 loss to the Steelers at SoFi Stadium.
"We'll look at it and we'll see," Rams head coach Sean McVay said postgame Sunday, when asked what the conversation was with Maher at that point. "He's got to be better. That's seven points that we missed out on that were key and critical for the momentum of the game and the type of game that it was. Those were tough ones today."
On Monday, McVay said there was "a possibility" of working out other kickers this week and that he had talked to special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn and assistant special teams coach Jeremy Springer about Maher. McVay also said he was going to talk to general manager Les Snead about it after he was done with his video conference with reporters Monday afternoon.
"You want to evaluate the landscape, see what that looks like," McVay said Monday. "Brett's been pretty consistent throughout his career. He's had some long attempts that are difficult kicks to be able to make that we've missed. You obviously want to be able to hit the extra point, but those will be things that we could possibly look into."
Entering Week 7, Maher had made 16 of 20 field goal attempts and all 12 of his extra point attempts. Maher said postgame that he was healthy.
Overall, Maher made 17 of 23 field goal attempts and 12 of 13 extra point attempts in seven games with the Rams; his 17 made field goals were tied with the Texans' Ka'imi Fairbairn and the Eagles' Jake Elliott for most in the NFL through the first seven weeks of the 2023 season. Five of Maher's six missed field goals were misses; one was blocked. Four of those misses came from 50-plus yards, two from 40-49 yards.
