Unlike the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes, the Brandon Aubrey saga is not over. That said, the Dallas Cowboys have taken a big step toward ensuring Aubrey's return.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported that the Cowboys placed the second-round tender on Aubrey, which was the expectation all along.
Aubrey can now negotiate and sign an offer sheet with another team, which Dallas would have the right to match. If the Cowboys decline, they would receive a second-round pick as compensation.
The tender is worth $5.76 million, which makes Aubrey the third-highest-paid kicker behind the Chiefs' Harrison Butker and the Eagles' Jake Elliott, who make $6.4 million and $6 million per year, respectively.
The Dallas Cowboys have placed the second-round tender on Brandon Aubrey
According to ESPN's Todd Archer, the Cowboys have an offer on the table that would make Aubrey the NFL's highest-paid kicker. That offer did not exceed $7 million per year, however, and Archer said that Aubrey's agent, Todd France, countered by asking for close to $10 million per year.
Negotiations have not progressed since they started in training camp last summer, though Schefter expects Aubrey to be the new highest-paid kicker when all is said and done.
The unfortunate thing for Aubrey is that he had little leverage to begin with, and the tender further tilts the scales in the Cowboys' favor. There are three possible outcomes here, and all of them benefit Dallas.
Either Aubrey and the team agree to a new deal, he plays the 2026 season on the tender, or he signs an offer sheet elsewhere, and Jerry Jones receives a second-round pick. Losing Aubrey would be easier to swallow if that were the consolation prize. Remember: the Cowboys do not have a second-rounder this year because of the Quinnen Williams trade.
The best outcome is Aubrey re-upping with Dallas. However, Jones must show the same restraint he did during trade talks for Maxx Crosby.
Aubrey should reset the kicker market, but paying him north of $8 million per year would be hard to justify, as the gap between him and the league’s other elite kickers simply isn’t that significant.
Crazier things have happened than a team "trading" a second-round pick for a kicker, but Aubrey receiving the tender makes it all the more likely that he'll be back in Dallas next season.