Brandon Aubrey #17 of the Dallas Cowboys
Getty
Brandon Aubrey #17 of the Dallas Cowboys
In a league with a club salary cap of $301 million for the 2026 season, $3 million is but a pittance. But when we’re talking about resetting the market for a position that has spiked in importance in recent years, that $3 million can be a gaping chasm. For the Dallas Cowboys and kicker Brandon Aubrey, there’s still a $3 million chasm between what he feels he should be paid and what the team is offering.
That’s according to Cowboys beat writer Calvin Watkins, who notes that Aubrey wants a contract worth $10 million per year, but the team has come in much lower.
Writes Watkins: “Before we begin the NCAA Tournament, got a few updates from the parties involved: No contract progress involving Brandon Aubrey and George Pickens. Aubrey asked for $10 mil offered just under $7. Cowboys place 2-round tender $5.76 mil. Cowboys still want Aubrey highest paid K.”
Brandon Aubrey Wants to Break Contract Record–Significantly
To start the offseason, the Cowboys had put an offer on the table to make Aubrey the highest paid kicker, a record that had been held by Harrison Butker of the Chiefs, at $6.4 million per year. Aubrey rejected that offer, and in the interim, Butker’s contract was topped by Ka’imi Fairbairn of the Texans, who signed for two years and $13 million.
The offer to Aubrey would top that, but Aubrey is asking the Cowboys to do something radical–not only raise the market on an entire position but to do it by 50%. On one level, it would be like a quarterback looking at Dak Prescott‘s $60 million per year and demanding $90 million per year.
The Cowboys are not willing to take that leap, and they put the second-round tender offer to Aubrey to ensure they have the right of first refusal on any offer he gets.
Cowboys Have Seen Kicking Game Stabilized
But from Aubrey’s point of view, the kicking game has gotten increasingly important, both with the changes in kicking rules and with the impact that new kicking balls have had, allowing field-goals to be made from farther distances. Aubrey has been accurate in his three seasons with the Cowboys–112 out of 127 field-goal tries–and he has been accurate from distance, making 35 out of 44 50-plus-yard attempts.
If the kicking game has become increasingly important in NFL offenses, the market for the best kickers should reflect that, the thinking goes.
Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.
GettyDallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Cowboys Handling Brandon Aubrey Deal in Usual Manner
Still, it is frustrating for Cowboys fans and observers that talks have gone nowhere between the two sides. Dallas has a reputation for hardball negotiating that costs the team in the end, and amid promises that the team would be taking a different approach on spending here in 2026, the stance with Aubrey feels much like business as usual for Jerry Jones and Co.
As for the Fairbairn contract, Aubrey said last week he was gratified to see it–good news for one kicker is good news for them all.
“That’s always a positive,” Aubrey said. “Anytime the market goes up as a whole, every kicker makes money. When he signs a new record contract, that makes the guy whose signing number 32 contract, whether that’s the rookie contract, I’d say anybody that’s signing a new deal, the prices go up.”
But whether Aubrey should be getting paid $3.5 million more than the No. 2 kicker is a difficult question.