FRISCO – Way too long ago, the Dallas Cowboys were said to be engaged in relatively peaceful conversations with agent Todd France regarding a re-signing All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey.

But until a deal was done? The tools had to be utilized.

So, as expected, Dallas recently beat the deadline to tender the restricted free agent kicker.

And also as expected, “Butter’‘ is sticking with the Cowboys.

Aubrey, 31, had a second-round tender (worth $5.8 million for 2026) put on him, meaning he could only be stolen away if another bidder comes along with an offer, and Dallas chooses not to match, instead taking a second-round pick as compensation.

The Cowboys were all along betting none of that happens. And they bet properly.

Aubrey and the Cowboys have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension that makes him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history at $7 million APY, and the first to receive $20 million guaranteed.

(ESPN reports that the deal is technically an extension that adds this new money to the tender deal to total five years and $33.7 million.)

Not much drama here. Not much turmoil. And for that, Jerry Jones’ Cowboys deserve some credit.

We have written at length about the long-ago proposed money involved in Aubrey’s new deal, what we thought of as in the range of these exact terms to make him the highest-paid kicker in football.

And we know that talks were ongoing and that they’d been taking place since last fall.

“We’ve been working on a long-term deal for some time,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said recently of the Aubrey dealings. “We’ve exchanged offers and the goal is to get him signed. We’ll tender him before the deadline if that’s what we have to decide.”

Jones added that the conversations have been a “journey.’‘

That “journey’‘ is now over.

The Cowboys’ view on Aubrey’s deal all along was that he deserved to be the highest-paid kicker ever.

But it seems Aubrey’s side was at one point asking for a long-term contract worth close to $10 million per year.

That would’ve still made him the NFL’s highest-paid kicker, blowing away KC’s Harrison Butker at $6.4 mil per year.

In fact, it’s about five times greater than the average kicker salary.

Aubrey is represented by Todd France, who also reps quarterback Dak Prescott. … who is of course by far the NFL’s highest-paid player ever at $60 million APY.

Dallas’ leverage? That tender; it gave the team contractual control.

Aubrey’s hope? To rewrite the way kickers are paid – or maybe just to start the bidding so high that it caused one NFL source to term it to us “outrageous.’‘

But now Aubrey has agreed to a contract, freeing the Cowboys do work on other deals.

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