The Cowboys, it appears, have gotten exactly what they had planned for when they tendered All-Pro Brandon Aubrey.
The Dallas Cowboys and All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey made waves at the scouting combine over a proposed new contract.
The Cowboys reportedly offered Aubrey a contract that would make him the highest-paid kicker in football, reportedly close to $7 million APY.
Then we heard that $10 million APY was the number that Aubrey is seeking.
But if Aubrey and his representative Todd France had hoped to get more money than any kicker in NFL history from Dallas this offseason?
That will likely still happen. But for the moment, they might have lost a bit of leverage.
With the Cowboys placing a $5.8 million second-round tender on Aubrey, other teams are free to negotiate with the All-Pro, and if Dallas wants to match the offer, it can. Otherwise, it gets a second-round pick as compensation.
And so far in free agency, two things have happened that the Cowboys will like and Aubrey won't.
The first is that, to our knowledge, no team has come forward with an offer for Aubrey.
Meaning there isn't a big market for his services at the price he wants.
And then there's this.
The Houston Texans signed their kicker, Ka’imi Fairbairn, to a two-year, $13 million deal, making him the highest-paid kicker in football.
That is $6.5 million APY.
So that is the baseline for Aubrey ... but it's a lower baseline than he might like.
Is $7.5 million APY for a new deal is the highest the Cowboys would go? How about $8 mil?
Maybe.
Having said all of that ..
Teams don't generally like being the ones handing out market-setting contracts for kickers, but Dallas should make an exception for Aubrey.
He's been elite ever since he stepped onto the practice field in Oxnard, and he hasn't looked back.
His record from beyond 50 yards in his career is ridiculous (35 made from 44 attempts), and we know how valuable he has been to the offense over the past three seasons.
Still, everyone has a price, and it is clear that the Cowboys and Aubrey are still aways apart on what they think is fair.
But what has transpired early in free agency, with Fairbairn getting a two-year deal, at $13 million, might hint that Dallas now has the leverage in talks with its All-Pro kicker.
Should a deal get done? Yes. And the Cowboys might have just gotten a little help in making it beneficial for them.