Dan Bailey may not be the first name Cowboys fans reach for when they think about jersey No. 5, but his place in team history is hard to miss. For now, he stands as the best Dallas Cowboys player to wear the number, edging out Bryan Anger in a tight race.
That’s not a knock on Anger, who has built a strong case of his own since joining Dallas in 2021. The punter has already earned two Pro Bowl nods and two Second-Team All-Pro selections.
Through the 2025 season, his 13,695 total punting yards rank sixth in Cowboys history, while his 48.9 total yards per punt and 43.3 net yards per punt are both No. 1 among Dallas punters. If he keeps piling up production over the next few years, this conversation could change.
But Bailey’s résumé is still the one that wins out here, and the numbers explain why. After a standout senior season at Oklahoma State in 2010, when he led the nation in scoring and picked up First-Team All-Big 12, Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year, Second-Team All-American, and Lou Groza Award honors, he went undrafted in 2011 before signing with Dallas as a free agent.
He wasted no time making an impression. After winning the kicking job in training camp, the Oklahoma City native drilled a game-winning overtime field goal against the rival San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. Then in Week 3, he became just the third rookie in NFL history to make six field goals in a single game, accounting for every Dallas point in an 18-16 win over the team now known as the Washington Commanders.
Bailey kept rolling from there. He finished his rookie season by hitting 32 of 37 field goals, including 26 straight at one point, and all 39 extra-point tries, earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors.
His best season came in 2015, when he made a league-best 93.8 percent of his field goals, going 30 for 32, and converted every PAT for the fifth straight year. That performance earned him a Pro Bowl selection and Second-Team All-Pro honors.
Over seven seasons with the Cowboys, Bailey made 186 of 211 field goals, and those 186 makes remain the most in franchise history. He also missed just two extra points, connecting on 276 of 278. His 834 regular-season points are the third-most in Cowboys history, behind only Emmitt Smith’s 986 and Rafael Septien’s 874.
Dallas surprisingly moved on from Bailey ahead of the 2018 season in favor of Brett Maher, and Bailey finished his career with three years in Minnesota. For jersey No. 5, though, his Cowboys work still speaks loudest.
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Jerry Jones Faces Another Massive Cowboys Decision On Quinnen Williams
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Traeshon Holden Is Forcing His Way Into A Cowboys Camp Battle
Traeshon Holden entered last years Cowboys camp as a name to watch, and he has kept himself in the conversation heading into this summer. The second-year receiver reportedly sat higher on the depth chart during minicamp than many around the team expected, a sign that his strong moments from a year ago have carried over enough to matter in a crowded receiver room.
Holden still has work to do before he can turn that momentum into a roster spot. Dallas wants more from him as a blocker and on special teams, the same areas that kept him from carving out a clearer role last season, but the path looks more open now with some moving parts in the receiver group. If he keeps building on what he showed in camp, he could make the final decision a lot harder than it looked a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]