Moments ago, the Dallas Cowboys placed the NFL’s second-round tender on All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey; it’s a $5.76M price-tag to do it. What does this mean, you might ask?
It’s essentially a much less exclusive franchise tag: Dallas protects the player from leaving for a fixed rate set by the league, but other teams can negotiate with him, and he can agree to an “offer sheet” that the Cowboys would have the option to match.
If, for example, the Packers signed Aubrey to a 3-year, $28.5M deal, the Cowboys could match it and get him on that contract, or decline to, and they’d receive Green Bay’s second-round pick in the draft this April.
Now, I am as big a fan of Aubrey, his booming leg, and his pinpoint accuracy as any reasonable Cowboys fan, but that draft capital sure would be nice to add.
Here, I’ll go through both pathways forward in this Aubrey saga, so you can have a good idea of what comes next, regardless of the true outcome.
Option 1: Brandon Aubrey Gets Paid, Cowboys Get Compensated
Scenario one is the same as the example I just laid out: Brandon Aubrey finds a deal elsewhere, and instead of matching, Dallas takes a second-round pick and goes on about their business.
Here, we’d see three things happen.
First, the Cowboys would immediately need a kicker to replace the best in the league: that’s a tall task, especially considering they’ve had a major downgrade in their special teams coordinator from when they struck gold with Aubrey.
Second, it would very likely mean Aubrey obliterated the previous record for a kicker contract (currently held by Harrison Butker), and deservedly so.
Lastly, Dallas would go from having no second-round pick after the Quinnen Williams trade to having a much-needed selection after their picks in the first at 12 and 20. This could also make the Cowboys more likely to move up with that extra ammo.
Option 2: Brandon Aubrey Signs Elsewhere, but Cowboys Match & Retain Him
The second option, which, depending on the cost, could be the most likely, is that Aubrey does find a deal elsewhere, but the Cowboys match it to keep their special teams star in-house.
It would mean Dallas committing a pretty hefty amount of money to the kicker position, which could limit their promised defensive spending in free agency.
Of course, it also means they don’t lose the absolutely elite weapon that Brandon Aubrey is.
It’s a huge benefit to the offense when you only need 25–35 yards on a drive to be in field goal range, and if the Cowboys’ defensive rebuild takes more than a year, they may need that three points-per-drive minimum to keep up in games.
Option 3: Brandon Aubrey Inks Extension with Dallas, Ends Saga Peacefully
Lastly, there’s always a chance that this whole fiasco ends in the simplest way: a Brandon Aubrey extension that keeps him in Dallas long-term, makes him the highest-paid kicker, and doesn’t break the bank with a ridiculous number.
The Cowboys maintain their prowess in the kicking game, don’t have to play roulette with a new kicker, and also don’t run the risk of damaging the relationship in a matching situation.
We’ve seen it happen before: when a guy signs elsewhere, but the offer is matched, and he’s retained by his original organization, it can strain his connection with the front office and create a whole situation; the Cowboys definitely don’t need that happening.
From a realism perspective, I think this is the most likely scenario for how this storyline ends.
However, I’m willing to state that I believe the best option for Dallas is to receive a second-round pick for Brandon Aubrey, even if it means risking the success of the special teams unit in 2026.
Where do you land in that debate?
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