There is incredible value in finding the right undrafted free agents — players overlooked in the draft who end up big-time contributors for NFL teams.
For the Dallas Cowboys, it’s gone even a step further. They’ve taken UDFAs and turned them into stars.
Pro Football Focus NFL reporter Daire Carragher put a pair of Cowboys on his NFL All-UDFA Team for 2026, with offensive tackle Terence Steele and 3-time NFL All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey.
“Terence Steele has been Mr. Available for the Dallas Cowboys, with over 1,100 snaps in each of his last three seasons … and he has surrendered only two sacks over his last eight outings,” Carragher wrote on June 24. “At kicker, Brandon Aubrey remains the clear choice. One of just six full-time kickers to miss only a single extra point over the past two seasons, Aubrey has paired consistency with elite leg strength. Since entering the league three years ago, he has led all kickers in made field goals from 50-plus yards (36), converting 80.0% of his 45 attempts.”
Terence Steele: 51 Consecutive Starts for Cowboys
Steele signed a 5-year, $86.8 million contract extension in September 2023 that will pay him $14 million in 2026. He has started 51 consecutive regular-season games for the Cowboys — every game the last 3 seasons.
Still, his name was being thrown around as a possible salary cap casualty this spring.
Dan Rogers of Blogging the Boys thinks the best path for the Cowboys and Steele is taking the “Wait and See” approach … and avoiding a dead cap hit of $9.375 million in 2026.
“Last year was a decent season for Steele, who is always at the forefront of any discussion regarding roster cuts,” Dan Rogers of Blogging the Boys wrote in February. “He remains a powerful run blocker, but his consistency in pass protection has been shaky at times. With the development of young tackles like Nate Thomas and Ajani Cornelius, there is a range of outcomes that could see the Cowboys moving on from Steele … 2025 is the year the team could responsibly get out of his contract, and that time is finally here. But can the team function without him? Moving on from Steele prematurely could create a massive hole on the right side of the line.”
Cowboys Made Brandon Aubrey Highest-Paid Kicker
Aubrey holds the NFL career record with 6 field goals made from 60 or more yards and is a 3-time NFL All-Pro in each of his 1st 3 seasons with the Cowboys. Aubrey cashed in big this offseason with a 4-year, $28 million contract extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid kicker.
He also became the first player in NFL history to kick 3 field goals of 55 yards or longer in a single game in a Week 14 loss to the Detroit Lions, hitting field goals from 63, 57, and 55 yards — 3 of the 5 total field goals he hit against the Lions.
Aubrey also became the first player in NFL history to make 100 field goals in their first 3 seasons.
“Brandon Aubrey just casually knocking a 63-yarder thru,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote on his official X account. “That was Tom Dempsey’s record distance that stood alone for 28 years.”
Aubrey was an All-American soccer player at Notre Dame and a 1st round pick (No. 21 overall) by Toronto FC in the 2017 Major League Soccer Draft before switching sports in 2019 at his wife’s urging.
Aubrey spent 3 years training before he signed with the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions, where he played in 2022 and 2023.
Cowboys Called ‘Gold Standard’ With Duo of UDFA Standouts