The latest Brandon Aubrey report likely doesn’t mean what many Cowboys fans think it does
The latest intel on the Dallas Cowboys’ negotiations with Brandon Aubrey may come off as worrisome. But we don’t know enough yet.
Making field goals appears to be an automatic task for Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey. Striking a long-term deal with a Jerry Jones-led front office, is not.
According to a recent report, the Cowboys offered Aubrey a historic contract for a kicker. Naturally, such news have fans worried about the kicker’s demands, but the reality is we know very little as of now.
Aubrey rejects “biggest deal ever”
The Cowboys “offered Aubrey the largest contract for a kicker in NFL history,” according to Dallas Morning News’ insider Calvin Watkins.
However, negotiations with the kicker haven’t progressed, even though Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones confirmed earlier in the week that negotiations with Aubrey started before the 2025 NFL season.
“We’ve been in talks with Aubrey for even before the season started,” Jones said. “It’s been a journey but we hadn’t been able to get to a point where we can all agree so hadn’t got it done, would love to get it done.”
Jones’ words combined with Watkins’ report may paint Aubrey in a negative light at first.
If he’s being offered a record deal, why not take it? However, “largest” contract does little to describe a full offer. Though Watkins did point out the Cowboys were offering $7.5 million per year (while Aubrey seeks an average of nearly $10 million), we know nothing about contract length, guaranteed salary, Year 1 cash flows, etc.
The highest-paid kicker in the league is Harrison Butker at $6.4 million per year, which suggests $7.5 million per year is a strong start. But in 2024, Butker got $13.8 million in newly fully guaranteed money. What is Aubrey being offered in that aspect?
We don’t know. As such, him declining “the largest deal ever” is not enough information to buy into the idea that the negotiations are getting nowhere. There’s a lot of little things that need to be negotiated.
Cowboys can keep Aubrey from free agency
Part of why the Cowboys are unlikely to budge in negotiations this year—other than $10 million per year being way too much—is that Aubrey is a restricted free agent. That means the Cowboys can keep him from reaching free agency through a tender.
According to Over the Cap, a first-round tender is projected to be $8.1 million in 2026. A second-round tender would be worth $5.8 million.
Either of these would allow the Cowboys to retain Aubrey as long as they match any offer sheet by another team. Otherwise, they’d receive a draft pick as compensation, which is highly unlikely to happen with Aubrey being a kicker, regardless of his elite play.
The end goal for both parties is a long-term deal. We’ll see if negotiations improve at the NFL Scouting Combine this week.
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