The Dallas Cowboys have yet to settle the future of their placekicker, Brandon Aubrey. And the way things currently stand, Aubrey could very well remain in Dallas. However, the door isn’t completely closed on a potential move elsewhere if a better offer comes along. For now, the Cowboys have taken the first step by placing the second-round tender on him.

“Cowboys placed the second-round, $5.76 million tender on kicker Brandon Aubrey, per source. Aubrey now can sign an offer sheet with another team that the Cowboys would have the right to match. If they don’t, they would get back a second-round pick,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

This update comes after earlier reports suggested the Cowboys were preparing to make the 30-year-old the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. As things stand, the Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker currently holds that distinction with an average salary of $6.4 million per year.

During the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, reports indicated that Dallas could re-sign Aubrey on a deal averaging around $7.5 million per year. That report didn’t hold up for long. It was later clarified that Aubrey was seeking an even bigger deal, roughly around $10 million per year.

What did seem clear at the time, though, was that the Cowboys had at least discussed a deal that would make Aubrey the league’s highest-paid kicker. Which naturally brings up the next question: with a $5.76 million second-round tender now in place, what does Aubrey’s future actually look like?

From a broader perspective, the 30-year-old essentially has two paths in front of him. One option is straightforward. He can remain in Dallas and play the 2026 season on the $5.76 million tender. The other possibility is that another team offers him a different contract, likely a multi-year deal.

If that happens, the Cowboys would have the right to match the exact terms of the contract. Should they choose to match it, Aubrey stays in Dallas under that new deal. If they decide not to match, Aubrey would be free to leave, and the Cowboys would receive a second-round draft pick as compensation.

Aubrey himself has already weighed in on the situation.

“I don’t really have much going on at the moment. Just sitting around waiting,” he said during his appearance on TOCA Social opening at Grandscape in The Colony. “Obviously, the [second round] tender is what the Cowboys have talked about. It’s a good amount of money. It’s a big pay raise for me from before, but it’s not ideal for any player, so we’ll see what happens.”

For now, the leverage clearly sits with the Cowboys. Whether Aubrey ultimately stays in Dallas or ends up elsewhere is something that will likely become clearer once free agency gets underway. And once the free agency kicks off, Aubrey is likely to receive offers from certain teams.

Why did the Cowboys place a second-round tender on Brandon Aubrey?

Brandon Aubrey has quietly been one of the best kickers not just for the Cowboys, but across the entire league. He has earned Pro Bowl honors in each of his first three seasons. On top of that, he holds the NFL record for the most field goals from 60 yards or longer, with six. Last season alone, he connected on 11 of his 17 attempts from 50 yards or beyond.

Looking at the bigger picture, Aubrey has converted 112 of his 127 field goal attempts in his NFL career, with a career-long kick of 65 yards. In the 2025 season specifically, he made 36 of 42 attempts, and notably, all six of his misses came from 51 yards or longer.

So there’s really no debating Aubrey’s value. The expectation around the league has largely been that the Cowboys would keep the 30-year-old in Dallas. Which naturally raises the question: if that’s the case, why would Jerry Jones place a second-round tender on him?

At least publicly, the explanation seems fairly simple.

Executive vice president Stephen Jones addressed the situation during the NFL Combine, noting that the two sides simply haven’t been able to agree on a deal yet. He said:

“It’s been a journey, but we hadn’t been able to get to a point where we can all agree, so it hadn’t gotten done. But we’d love to get him done.”

On the surface, it does appear that the Cowboys and their star placekicker just haven’t landed on the right number yet. But there could be another layer to this decision.

Dallas currently does not own a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. So in a hypothetical scenario, if another team were to sign Aubrey to an offer sheet during free agency and the Cowboys chose not to match it, Dallas would receive a second-round pick as compensation, valuable draft capital they currently don’t have.

If that scenario were to play out, Aubrey would become just the second player to leave a team for a second-round pick as a restricted free agent. The last time something similar happened was back in 2007, when Wes Welker was traded from the Miami Dolphins to the New England Patriots in a deal involving second- and seventh-round picks.

For now, though, the situation remains unresolved. Several teams are expected to be in the market for a kicker once free agency begins. Whether any of them are willing to make an offer and potentially give up a second-round pick is something we’ll find out in less than a week.