Cowboys sign top kicker
- What happened: Dallas signed kicker Brandon Aubrey to a four‑year deal, making him the NFL's highest‑paid kicker. - The key specific: Aubrey's contract is worth $28 million across four years. - Context/reaction: The signing secures Dallas's kicking position and reflects growing market value for reliable specialists (x.com).
Dallas locked up Brandon Aubrey on Monday with a four-year, $28 million extension that makes him the highest-paid kicker in National Football League history. (nfl.com) The deal averages $7 million per year, and ESPN reported it includes $20 million guaranteed and an $8.25 million signing bonus. Spotrac lists the contract as running through the 2030 season, with Aubrey set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2031. (espn.com, spotrac.com) Aubrey had been playing on a one-year, $5.767 million restricted free agent tender before the extension. National Football League media reports said Dallas and Aubrey had been negotiating for weeks over a contract that would reset the kicker market. (spotrac.com, cbssports.com) The Cowboys are paying for production that has been unusually steady since Aubrey entered the league in 2023. NFL.com’s player page says the 31-year-old was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie and has quickly become one of Dallas’s most reliable scoring weapons. (nfl.com) The contract also shows how much teams now value specialists who can turn long drives into points from 50 yards and beyond. ESPN reported Aubrey is the first kicker to reach $7 million a year, a new benchmark for a position that usually sits below quarterbacks, pass rushers and receivers in salary talks. (espn.com) Dallas had little reason to let the situation drag into the season after using a second-round restricted tender to keep him off the open market in March. The National Football League free agency tracker listed that tender at $5.76 million before the long-term deal replaced it. (nfl.com) For the Cowboys, the move settles one of the roster’s simplest questions before training camp: the kicker job now belongs to Aubrey for years, not months. (nfl.com, spotrac.com)
