Cowboys 2026 roster rundown: P Bryan Anger

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 19: Bryan Anger #5 of the Dallas Cowboys looks on from the field after an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Field on October 19, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images Bryan Anger, like fellow specialists Brando

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What is the story about?

Bryan Anger, like fellow specialists Brandon Aubrey and Trent Sieg, currently has no one to challenge him for his job as the Cowboys’ punter. Unless that changes between now and training camp, Anger will be one of the few participants in Oxnard who doesn’t have to look over his shoulder.

Background

Years in NFL: 14
Acquired by: Free agent (2021)

Back in 2012, Anger was a third-round pick by the Jaguars. It was the highest that a punter had been drafted since Dustin Colquitt in 2005, and no punter has gone that high since.

A couple of fourths and fifths have been used, but Anger is in rare company for the NFL’s modern era.

Anger’s career has lived up to that unusually high selection for a special teamer, starting early by setting the NFL rookie record for average punting yards, then leading the league in punting yards in 2013. He’d play out his rookie deal with Jacksonville and then stayed in state by joining Tampa Bay. Three years later, he signed with Houston. And after two years there, he again moved west in the same state and signed with the Cowboys.

While Anger has always been a respected punter and consistently found work, his best years may have been his run with the Cowboys. Over the last five seasons, he’s made his only two Pro Bowls trips and twice been named a Second-Team All-Pro. Two of his career highs have come in Dallas: a 51.4 yards average in 2023 and his longest punt, 83 yards, in 2022.

Contract Status

Years Left: 1
2026 Cap Hit: $4.1 million

Anger is currently the eighth-most expensive punter in contract average, but has the second-highest cap hit of any punter in 2026. With only $1 million of dead money on the deal, Dallas could greatly reduce that burden if they released him this August. Next, we’ll get into why that is at least possible, even if unlikely.

2026 Projections

Role: Punter
Roster Chance: 95%

Even with Anger’s advanced NFL age, it’s been a while since the Cowboys have even bothered signing a “camp leg” to reduce his summer workload. We’ll see if that continue in 2026, or if Anger will waltz into another season at his job. And there’s an argument to be made that Dallas should be considering other options.

Some advanced metrics suggest declining performance over the last two years. Pro Football Focus has dropped Anger’s grade in each of the last two seasons, going from 87.5 to 76.4 in 2024, then down to 68.7 last season. His net averages and punts inside the 20 have declined. As of now, no other punter is signed for training camp. But those moves can sometime come very close to the start or even after camp has begun.

One thing working in Anger’s favor is that every aspect of Dallas’ special teams took a hit last year with Nick Sorensen’s arrival as coordinator. S0 the front office and Brian Schottenheimer may be curious to see how Sorensen makes adjustments before just dumping the players.

Still, when a guy is 37 years old, you have to closely monitor athletic decline. Anger has been at this for a long time and with only two missed games in his entire career. At some point, the wheels do come off. If the Cowboys have any sense that Anger’s decline can’t be coached away, they just might kick the tires on some young legs brought from the UFL, undrafted free agents, or some other talent pipeline.

Check out our previous player profiles from this series: