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Brandon Aubrey #17 of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates with Bryan Anger #5
It stands to reason that the Dallas Cowboys and kicker Brandon Aubrey will come to an agreement on a new contract. Perhaps the surprise, given the new leaf the team seems to have turned over when it comes to addressing offseason issues sooner rather than later, is that there isn’t already a contract in place.
But before you roll your eyes and give team owner Jerry Jones a tsk-tsk for being tight with salary, reports emerged on Tuesday noting that the Cowboys not only put an offer on the table for Aubrey, but they made him what would be an offer for a record-setting contract at the kicker position, a designation that is currently held by Harrison Butker of the Chiefs at $6.4 million.
In a surprise twist, though, Aubrey–a three-time first or second-team All-Pro who has made 112 of the 127 field goals he has attempted–has turned down the Cowboys and is seeking a much bigger deal.
Brandon Aubrey Wants … How Much?
From Clarence Hill, longtime Cowboys beat writer now working for DLLS Cowboys: “The Cowboys have an offer on the table that would make Brandon Aubrey the highest paid kicker in the NFL, per source. As of now he wants more than they offered. That’s partly why a deal has yet to be done.”
Fellow Cowboys beat writer Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News added to that reporting, noting that Aubrey is not just seeking to surpass Butker’s current salary record–he’s seeking to obliterate it with his own shocking contract demand.
Watkins writes that the Cowboys’ offer was for $7.5 million per year for Aubrey, but that Aubrey, “is looking for nearly $10 million per season.”
That is obviously a big jump, and for a Cowboys team that is trying to focus on rebuilding the defense, a $2.5 million difference in what they give to Aubrey will represent a significant outlay.
Brandon Aubrey’s Camp Can Argue Value to Cowboys
While Aubrey’s camp is no doubt arguing that the value of kickers has spiked in the past two seasons with new kickoff rules that set up offenses closer than ever to field-goal range and new kicking balls that have extended the range of the best kickers in the game, Watkins points out that the Cowboys hold the cards in this negotiation.
Aubrey is only in his third season in the NFL, after he turned a collegiate soccer career into a brief stint in the MLS, then made the leap to the USFL before joining the Cowboys in 2023. The Cowboys have salary-cap rules they can use to keep Aubrey in place at a lower number if he keeps insisting on getting $10 million per year.
Cowboys Have the Leverage
Aubrey made $1 million last year and has made $2.6 million in his three-year Cowboys career. He’s already 30 years old, and his projected market value at Spotrac is $6.5 million. That, obviously, is an undervaluation.
But again, it’s the Cowboys who hold the keys here. Watkins wrote: “It seems Cowboys’ officials have the leverage over Aubrey because they can place either a first-round or second-round tender on him. The projections for both tenders, first-round ($8.107 million) and second-round ($5.811), are significant raises for Aubrey, who came out of nowhere to earn the kicking job three seasons ago.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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