The Cowboys are willing to make Brandon Aubrey the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, but they have stopped far short of the $10 million annual average he wants.
Aubrey and the Cowboys have discussed a contract extension for the kicker for months without an agreement. Last week, the Cowboys leaked that Aubrey was asking for $10 million per season.
Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reported that the Cowboys had offered Aubrey $7.5 million, but later corrected his report. The number actually is less than $7 million, but more than the $6.4 million annual average of the league’s highest-paid kicker, Kansas City’s Harrison Butker.
The Cowboys will place a second-round tender on Aubrey, which would pay him $5.81 million, but it will allow him to seek a better deal. Dallas will hold a right-of-first refusal, receiving a second-round draft choice if it declines to match the offer.
“Obviously the tender is what the Cowboys have talked about, and it’s a good problem to have,” Aubrey said Wednesday, via Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News. “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. We’ll see what happens. I’m excited to be in this position. It’s an opportunity for me . . . so I’m thankful for that.”
Aubrey, 30, has made the Pro Bowl in all three of his seasons and has an NFL-record six field goals from 60 yards or longer. He has a career-long of 65 yards. He missed seven field goals in 2024 and six in 2025, with all but four of the misses coming from 50-plus yards.
He said he has thought about potentially leaving the Cowboys if he gets an offer the team won’t match.
“When you hit that restricted free agency, if you’re not testing the market, then you’re not doing what’s right for you and your family,” Aubrey said. “So you have to do that, if that’s what it comes to.”
Cowboys Clips
The Cowboys have moved to hold onto cornerback Reddy Steward.
Steward’s agents Drew Rosenhaus and Oliver Chell announced that the Cowboys have tendered Steward as an exclusive rights free agent. Steward can’t negotiate with other clubs once the tender is in place, so he’ll be back to compete for time in the Dallas secondary once he signs his deal for 2026.
Steward spent time with the Bears and Vikings after going undrafted in 2024 and was claimed off of waivers by the Cowboys last August. He appeared in every game and recorded 63 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in those appearances.
DaRon Bland, Shavon Revel, Trikweze Bridges, and Caelen Carson are also set to return as Cowboys corners in 2026.
The Cowboys have moved under the $301.2 million salary cap for the 2026 season by completing three contract restructures.
Shortly after word came that they restructured the deals of quarterback Dak Prescott and left tackle Tyler Smith, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reported that they have also restructured wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s deal.
The three moves created around $66 million of cap space for the team without altering the overall compensation for any of the players. The remaining cap hits have moved into future seasons, which will likely leave the Cowboys with more cap maneuvering to do in the future.
Lamb is signed through the 2028 season with void years pushing the remaining cap hits beyond that point. He had 75 catches for 1,077 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games last season.
The Cowboys have created some cap room in advance of the new league year beginning next week.
Per a report from ESPN, Dallas has restructured the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott and left tackle Tyler Smith.
By doing so, the Cowboys have freed up about $48 million in cap space.
Prescott’s restructure created roughly $31 million in cap space while Smith’s created roughly $17.6 million.
Prescott is currently under contract with Dallas through 2028 with several void years on the backend of his deal. Smith is signed through 2030.
Cooper Witten, the top-rated linebacker in the Class of 2027, will join his father, Jason Witten, at the University of Oklahoma.
Cooper announced his commitment to the Sooners on Tuesday, choosing OU over Texas A&M, Tennessee and Georgia.
Jason, an 11-time Pro Bowler and Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist in 2026, joined OU as tight ends coach in January.
Cooper played for his father at Liberty Christian High School in Argyle, Texas, the past three seasons.
“Coach [Brent] Venables was the first coach to believe in me and offer me, so that really meant a lot from the start of the whole recruiting process,” Witten told 247Sports. “His defenses have been elite his whole career, and I believe that the coaching staff can develop me to be the best linebacker in the country one day.”
The 6-1, 220-pound Witten is a five-star linebacker and a three-sport star. He led his team to back-to-back state titles in 2023 and 2024, with Liberty Christian going unbeaten for the first time in school history during his freshman season. Witten’s older brother, C.J., signed with Rice in 2025.
From 2015-24, the NFL saw five or more franchise tags placed on players each of those offseasons. A total of five tags were used the past two years.
The deadline to tag players in 2026 passed Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Only three teams used a franchise tag, with Jets running back Breece Hall, Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens and Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts tagged as non-exclusive franchise players. In 2025, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Chiefs offensive guard Trey Smith were the only players tagged.
The only other time two or fewer players were tagged was 1994, the first year of the franchise tag, when Pittsburgh tight end Eric Green and Vikings defensive tackle Henry Thomas received their team’s franchise tag.
The Colts placed the transition tag on quarterback Daniel Jones on Tuesday.
Teams will have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal with tagged players, or the players will play on the tag for 2026.
The NFL is a deadline-driven business. And an important annual deadline arrives today.
The two-week window for applying the franchise or transition tag closes at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
There’s really no reason for a two-week period. All that matters is the end, not the beginning. And while there’s some value in applying the tag before the Scouting Combine as a way to short-circuit tampering efforts, only two teams put the word out before things got rolling in Indianapolis that key players would be off-limits — Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. and Cowboys receiver George Pickens.
Will there be more? Obviously, if any will happen, it will happen today.
The players to watch are Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (and, if they work out a deal with him today, Colts receiver Alec Pierce), Jets running back Breece Hall, and Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
If no additional tags are applied, it will be the second straight year with only two. And the two applied in 2025 were the fewest since 2006.
Time will tell. And the clock is ticking. We’ll know at 4:00 p.m. ET who is, and isn’t, blocked from the open market by the franchise or transition tag.
The asking price is known. The outcome isn’t.
Where will defensive end Maxx Crosby play next?
DraftKings has the Bears as the +200 favorites to secure his services via trade with the Raiders. Staying put with the Raiders is a +350 proposition.
Five teams are clustered at +700: the Rams (Fuck Them Picks, Part Two), Cowboys, Bills, Ravens, and Eagles.
The Patriots land at +1000, with the Lions and Buccaneers at +1200.
The Raiders, as PFT reported last week, want two first-round picks and a player for Crosby. Crosby, as Jay Glazer said during Super Bowl week, is “done” with the Raiders.
Whether this saga is done remains to be seen. Although no trades can become official until next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, teams can reach tentative agreements now.
Everyone agrees that Cowboys restricted free agent Brandon Aubrey will re-set the market for kickers this offseason, but the sides may not be close on the dollar amounts.
Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones said the Cowboys love having Aubrey on the team and are ready to make him the highest-paid player at his position in the league.
“We want to make him the highest-paid player,” Jones said. “We think he’s outstanding. Love his story, love the fact that the story is with the Cowboys. We feel good that what we are talking about is an appreciation of what he can do for us. That’s a way of, not trying to negotiate with anything that I might say here, but we’ve got a good offer on the table for him.”
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker currently has the highest annual average of any kicker at $6.4 million. The Cowboys reportedly offered Aubrey a long-term deal with an average salary of close to $7.5 million, but Aubrey reportedly wants close to $10 million a season.
The Cowboys are planning to put a second-round tender on Aubrey, which means that any team that signed Aubrey away from the Cowboys in free agency would have to give the Cowboys a second-round draft pick. It also means Aubrey would have a one-year, $5.8 million contract on offer that he could sign with the Cowboys if he chose to do so. But Aubrey’s sights are set on making a lot more than $5.8 million, from the Cowboys or from someone else.
Donovan Ezeiruaku is set for a key role at linebacker for the Cowboys as they transition to a 3-4 base look under new coordinator Christian Parker, but he’ll have some rehab work to do before he’ll be able to get on the field.
According to multiple reports, Ezeiruaku had hip surgery to repair a labrum injury. Ezeiruaku could be out until training camp as he recovers from the injury.
Ezeiruaku was a second-round pick last year and he started nine of his 17 appearances as a rookie. He had 40 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in those appearances.
The Cowboys are moving Marist Liufau to outside linebacker this offseason, but will need to add other bodies at the position with Jadeveon Clowney, Dante Fowler, and Sam Williams set for free agency.
