The Dallas Cowboys on Saturday placed a second-round tender worth $5.76 million on kicker Brandon Aubrey, a person familiar with the move confirmed to The Dallas Morning News.
Aubrey, a restricted free agent, can test the market in free agency, which begins at 11 a.m. Monday. The Cowboys can match any offer sheet he receives. If Dallas elects not to match, it would receive a second-round draft pick as compensation.
“Obviously the tender is what the Cowboys have talked about, and it’s a good problem to have,” Aubrey said Wednesday from the unveiling of the TOCA Social soccer home in The Colony. “It’s a good amount of money and it’s a big pay raise from before, but it’s not the ideal for any player.”
Aubrey has been an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler in each of his first three NFL seasons. Dallas at one point offered a deal to make Aubrey the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, multiple people familiar with the negotiations told The News.
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It would’ve eclipsed the deal for Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker ($6.4 million), but was under the $7 million threshold. It was also far from Aubrey’s agent Todd France’s request of $10 million.
Talks between the Cowboys and France resumed at the combine. While talks have been called positive, they haven’t been enough to complete a long-term deal.
The Cowboys officially placed on the 2nd round tender on both K Brandon Aubrey & OL T.J. Bass.
One thing I’ve wrote before RE: Bass … $5.76 million for a backup OL is a good chunk of change, but it’s a great deal if he’s forced to start with Tyler Smith at LT — if need be.
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) March 7, 2026
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