Hunter Niswander’s last punt for the Cowboys was in the 2020 season finale. Four hundred and sixty-six days later, he’s been waived by the team.
The Cowboys made it official with an announcement on Thursday.
The 27-year-old had taken over punting duties for an injured Chris Jones midway through the 2020 season. The Northwestern product fared decently in his first pro action, averaging 47.2 yards per punt on 26 boots.
But when special teams coordinator brought in veteran Bryan Anger over the offseason, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Niswander. He was allowed to do some placekicking during camp while Greg Zuerlein rehabbed a back injury, but Niswander ended up hurting his own back and spent the entire 2021 campaign on injured reserve.
Cowboys informed punter Hunter Niswander this morning he has been waived, source said. Niswander spent last season on injured reserve but is fully recovered from back issue. He’ll seek better opportunity to compete than he would’ve had in Dallas behind Bryan Anger.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) April 14, 2022
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Anger was also nursing an injury when he came to Dallas in April 2021 on just a one-year contract, so stashing Niswander as a just-in-case fallback option made sense for the Cowboys.
Anger went on to have a Pro Bowl season, his first. Many expected him to therefore command a much higher salary than the Cowboys would want to pay him. But the team re-signed him to a new three-year deal last month, locking up the punting job definitively and finally closing the door on Niswander.
Now recovered from his back injury, Niswander will be free to join another club where he’ll have a better shot at competing for a starting job.