IRVING, Texas- The Cowboys brought back punter Tom Hornsey on Thursday, giving the club two punters on the current roster here in the final few weeks before free agency.
Hornsey spent just a couple of weeks with the Cowboys last summer, playing in two preseason games against the Ravens and Dolphins. The Aussie punter, who played collegiately at Memphis, joined the team in training camp on Aug. 12, the day after the club released rookie punter Cody Mandell.
Hornsey never had a legitimate shot to compete with punter Chris Jones, who just finished his third season with the Cowboys.
But Jones is a restricted free agent this spring and it's uncertain if the Cowboys will give him a qualifying tender of around $1.5 million for 2015.
Last August, in his two games with the Cowboys, Hornsey had five punts for an average of 50.2 yards, including a long of 63 yards. Two of his punts were downed inside the 20. Hornsey's net average of 39.8 yards in the game, was the exact season-long average of Jones. In 2014, Jones had 57 punts for a 45.4 yard average.
The Cowboys have until March 10, the first day of the free-agent signing period, to issue the restricted tender to Jones, or any other restricted free agent.
