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IRVING – So confident was Mike Vanderjagt in his ability that he insisted a $200,000 incentive be added to his contract if he made 85 percent of his kicks this season.

Vanderjagt will not be able to cash in on the incentive, nor will he be kicking for the Cowboys again this season.

On Monday, the Cowboys cut Vanderjagt a little more than eight months after making him the highest-paid kicker in team history with a three-year, $5.5 million deal that included a $2.5 million signing bonus. Dallas signed veteran Martin Gramatica as his replacement.

Vanderjagt connected on only 13 of 18 field goals in 10 games with the Cowboys – three hit the right upright and one was blocked.

He entered this season having missed only seven kicks in the previous three seasons. After seeing Jose Cortez, Billy Cundiff and Shaun Suisham make 20 of 28 field goals last season, the Cowboys thought they had fixed their kicking problems.

But from the first day of training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Vanderjagt was not as advertised.

He never had a perfect day during team drills and sat out two preseason games with a groin injury. He missed two short kicks that would have beaten Minnesota in the preseason finale and was inactive for the regular-season opener at Jacksonville in favor of Suisham.

Although he publicly displayed confidence and said he had the ability to turn it on when needed, Vanderjagt never completely earned coach Bill Parcells' trust. Vanderjagt's kickoffs were not pretty but were effective. Opposing teams averaged just 18 yards per return, and he had three touchbacks.

He had a potential game-winning field goal attempt from 35 yards blocked on Nov. 5 at Washington, and he missed from 43 and 46 yards on Nov. 19 against Indianapolis – his former team.

After he made a 22-yarder against Tampa Bay on Thanksgiving, the sellout crowd at Texas Stadium delivered a mock cheer that made Vanderjagt smile.

Efforts to reach Vanderjagt and his agent, Gil Scott, were unsuccessful. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was not available for comment. Parcells will address the media today.

The prorated portion of Vanderjagt's signing bonus (roughly $1.6 million) will go against the salary cap next year. As a vested veteran, the Cowboys owe him the remainder of this season's $810,000 base salary.

The Cowboys have made this sort of move before. Last year, Billy Cundiff was cut after a 24-20 win at Carolina on Dec. 24 after he missed one field goal and was run into on another miss – the penalty led to the game-winning touchdown pass. Suisham was re-signed and promptly missed from 47 yards in the season finale against St. Louis.

On their way to the playoffs in 1999, the Cowboys cut Richie Cunningham with four games left in the season and signed veteran Eddie Murray, who made seven of nine field goals. Early in 1993, Murray replaced Lin Elliott and made 28 of 33 field goals, and the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVIII.

Gramatica spent time with Indianapolis this season when Adam Vinatieri was bothered by a foot injury. He made his lone field goal attempt, from 20 yards, against the New York Jets on Oct. 1 and was 9-of-9 on point after attempts.

Gramatica, who went to training camp with New England after sitting out 2005, was released by the Colts on Oct. 10 and has been working out in Tampa, Fla.

"It's a fantastic opportunity," Gramatica's agent, Jack Reale, said. "The Cowboys are obviously on an up tick and things are looking good."

Gramatica won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2002 and in seven seasons he has hit 138 of 180 attempts – 76.7 percent.

That is lower than Vanderjagt's career percentage (86.5) but better than the 72.2 percent he made this season – and that's what the Cowboys care about.

E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com

Cowboys (7-4) at NY Giants (6-5), 3:15 p.m. Sunday (Ch. 4)