Brandon

Aubrey

The Cowboys have already offered Aubrey the league’s highest-paid kicker contract. Watkins reports the 30-year-old “was offered a deal with an average salary just under $7 million but is looking for nearly $10 million per season.” Despite exceeding Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s $6.4 million average annual salary with this contract offer, the Cowboys are still below Aubrey’s desired number. He has one first-team All-Pro and two second-team All-Pro selections over the last three years, a resume certainly worth demanding the highest kicker salary in the league. The Cowboys can still place a first- or second-round tender on Aubrey if an extension does not happen.

And it’s still not enough, as Hill writes that Aubrey “wants more than they offered.” That is how contract talks be sometimes. The Cowboys have the right to tender Aubrey a deal as a restricted free agent and seem to be in no real danger of losing the kicker, but they’ve been trying to get him extended for a solid calendar year and still don’t seem to have the right number to do it.

Aubrey’s agent, Todd France, and the Cowboys have been in talks “for some time,” and Cowboys owner Stephen Jones confirmed that the two sides have been exchanging contract offers. Jones is seemingly intent on keeping Aubrey, saying the Cowboys will “tender him before the deadline” if they have to. Aubrey has earned Pro Bowl honors in each of the last three seasons. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2023 and was a second-team All-Pro in 2024 and 2025.

It would be a $6 million cap figure for Aubrey if so, something that would put him easily in the top five kickers by average annual value. The Cowboys and agent Todd France “never got close” on extension talks with Aubrey last season. It’s one more thing the Cowboys need to figure out while they worry about how to pay George Pickens and rebuild their back seven this offseason.

The normally elite kicker missed from 51 yards in the first half and from 59 yards after the break in a loss that all but ended the team’s chances at a postseason berth, now requiring three wins and three losses from the Eagles to do so. The two misses also matched his season total through 13 games after the veteran kicker connected on 27 of his first 29 attempts this season.

The only constants in life are death, taxes, and Aubrey knocked down field goals from 50-plus yards. The Cowboys’ kicker will have single-handedly propelled multiple fantasy teams to victory this week when all is said and done thanks in part to his five field goal, which included three makes from 50 or more yards. Aubrey’s longest kick came on a 63-yard try late in the third quarter, which marked his third field goal from 60-plus this season. He remains a weekly must-start for fantasy managers heading into Week 15 against the Vikings.

Aubrey missed a 51-yarder in the second half — a rare miss for the all-world kicker — but drilled the game winner to cap a memorable Cowboys comeback against their division rival. Aubrey, who has only missed two field goal tries all season, should stay in fantasy lineups in Week 13 against the Bears.

We’re willing to go out on a limb and guess that Aubrey will likely find time to go through his normal kicking routine at some point throughout the week to be ready for Week 8’s game against the 49ers. It doesn’t sound like he’ll be at any risk of missing the game based on McCarthy’s comments, so fantasy managers don’t need to rush to add a replacement at this time.

It’s both incredible that Aubrey is missing practice for this reason and shocking that this isn’t more common. Aubrey’s status for Week 8 is unclear as he tends to his civic duties. The Cowboys don’t have another kicker on their roster, meaning they will need to sign a replacement if Aubrey is unable to play on Sunday, though that seems extremely unlikely.