The Dallas Cowboys are hardly strangers to making big trades. In fact, we only have to go back to late August for a fairly infamous one and, before that, only May of this year and the George Pickens trade. 

In his article discussing each team’s approach before the deadline, Bill Barnwell of ESPN lists the Cowboys as a team that should be selling players for picks. While this is in itself an unpopular but increasingly common sentiment, one of the players he listed as potential pieces to move had social media abuzz. 

Mixed amongst names such as James Houston and Mazi Smith was All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey. Now, it’s worth noting that Barnwell himself admitted that it would be a shocking move:

“I would be stunned if the Cowboys traded Aubrey, but I'm throwing him out here more as a thought experiment than anything else. A going-nowhere Cowboys team doesn't have much use for Aubrey, and although kickers can play into their 40s, the former soccer player is already 30 years old. He's obviously a valuable player, but Aubrey is eligible for an extension next offseason, and the Cowboys need to save money around Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to address their defense.”

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Within that admission though, he does make some good points. The Cowboys aren’t going anywhere this year, and Aubrey is only under team control for one more season beyond this one. 

Based on total value, let’s take a look at the largest contracts handed out to kickers in NFL history, courtesy of Spotrac.

With Aubrey being within the range of most of those kickers in terms of age (he’ll be 31 next season), that does not seem like a mitigating factor of most of these players. Keeping that in mind, as well as the fact that Aubrey is markedly better than any of the players listed below, it’s not at all unreasonable that he could aim for a contract in the range of four-year, $30 million or even five-year, $35 million, with 80% guaranteed. 

Such a contract would shatter the total value, guaranteed money, and AAV that Butker reached in his contract. So, the question becomes, if a team offers something along the lines of a second-round pick, or even a second and a player (an admittedly outrageous ask for a kicker), is that something Dallas can turn its nose up at? 

After all, an elite kicker on a non-contending team is like a shutdown closer on a bottom dwelling baseball team: nice to have, but a luxury item in a studio apartment. While it may be gut wrenching to see another fan favorite moved, it’s something the Cowboys will have to consider if presented the opportunity.