Cowboys sign kicker Lirim Hajrullahu for summer competition

It is pronounced HIGH-roo-LAH-hoo.

Anyone who skipped learning the name last season may want to learn it now.

The Cowboys have signed former CFL All-Star kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, a source said Friday. He appears to represent the experienced leg the team has long planned to pair with undrafted rookie Jonathan Garibay for a kicker competition during training camp and the preseason.

Their competition starts soon.

On July 25, the team’s charter transportation is scheduled to arrive in Oxnard, Calif., for camp. The official report date and conditioning tests are July 26. The first practice, one of 13 open to the public, will be held July 27 at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time.

Hajrullahu, 32, is not overly experienced at the NFL level.

The Kosovo native reportedly made a strong training-camp push for the Los Angeles Rams’ kicker job in 2020 but lost the competition. There was no preseason in which to compete; it was canceled because of COVID-19. From that sense, this opportunity from the Cowboys is arguably his truest chance to earn an NFL job yet.

Hajrullahu has attempted five field goals and eight extra point attempts in his NFL career. All came in four games last year. The final three were spent with the Carolina Panthers for whom he tried the field goals, finding success from 24, 29, 32 and 35 yards with a wide-right miss from 47.

His NFL debut came with Dallas.

On Nov. 10, the Cowboys signed Hajrullahu after he made all 12 field goal attempts during a workout that veteran kicker Brett Maher also attended. The roster move followed a positive COVID-19 test for the Cowboys’ then-kicker, Greg Zuerlein.

Hajrullahu went 5 for 5 on extra points during a 43-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Hajrullahu had other Cowboys stints last year, too. He spent five days in training camp to replace injured punter/kicker Hunter Niswander, handling two extra points in an exhibition against the Houston Texans. He logged a week on the practice squad after Zuerlein struggled in a season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and another week in November after Zuerlein’s return from COVID-19.

In the CFL, Hajrullahu played two seasons for each the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2014 to 2019. He handled all punting and kicking for those teams while making 83.3% of his field goal tries.

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