The Dallas Cowboys have, apparently, made their contract offer to Brandon Aubrey, the stellar kicker who has, in three seasons since arriving in the NFL, quickly established himself as one of the best kickers in the game–if not the best. And he happens to be hitting free agency now, which sets him up for a significant pay hike. In fact, it’s widely expected that Aubrey would break the record for kicker contracts, which was held by Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, at $6.4 million per year.
But there has been a problem that has interceded in Aubrey’s hunt for the kicker payout record: It was just broken by someone else, Ka’imi Fairbairn of the Texans, who was given a two-year, $13 million contract, eclipsing the Butker deal.
As Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas pointed out, Fairbairn has been on par with Aubrey since entering the league, and his contract is not great news for Aubrey’s chase of what might be more than $8 million per year.
New Record Contract Bad News for Brandon Aubrey?
Here’s what Belt, a Cowboys reporter for the station, wrote on Twitter/X on Tuesday night after the Fairbairn deal: “Since Brandon Aubrey entered the league, Ka’imi Fairbairn has a 90.7% field goal percentage, while Aubrey‘s is at 88.2%. Fairbairn also barely eclipses Aubrey in 50+ yard field goal accuracy. $6.5m for Fairbairn doesn’t help Aubrey‘s search for $8m+.”
The Cowboys have felt that they’ve made Aubrey a fair offer, and put the second-round tender on him ahead of free agency beginning. That guarantees Aubrey $5.8 million next season, and would net the Cowboys a second-round pick if someone else tries to sign Aubrey.
Cowboys Focused on Other Areas
Cowboys team site writer Tommy Yarrish caught up with Aubrey at an event on Wednesday and asked him about the status of his contract with the Cowboys. Aubrey described it as a, “waiting pattern,” indicating that the Cowboys are coping with the first wave of free agency before turning to tendered players.
“It’s not something that I have control over as the term restricted applies there,” Aubrey said. “Obviously, Dallas is my home. I’d like to keep it that way, so it would be nice to get a long-term deal going. Just need to sit down and have that conversation. …
“There’s a lot of moving parts with the Cowboys at the moment. There’s players that aren’t restricted that they’ve got to sort through first, because with that restriction, movement is significantly more difficult. So they go through and there’s more important fires to put out. And then they can circle around when things calm down and talk to me.”
GettyKa’imi Fairbairn #15 of the Houston Texans got a new contract that affects Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey’s next deal.
Cowboys Risk Losing Brandon Aubrey to Surprise Deal
Earlier in the offseason, ESPN’s Adam Schefter warned the Cowboys that another team could swoop in and make a play for Aubrey, even willingly paying the cost of a second-round pick plus the contract. Aubrey, and kickers, have become that valuable under the NFL’s revamped kicking game rules.
As for the Fairbairn deal, Aubrey said he was happy about it: “That’s always a positive. Anytime the market goes up as a whole, every kicker makes money.”
Cowboys All-Pro Breaks Silence Amid Record-Breaking Contract News