The Dallas Cowboys have one of the best kicking weapons in the NFL in Brandon Aubrey, but if they’re not careful, they could end up losing him this offseason.
Aubrey is set to be a restricted free agent, which means the Cowboys will have almost every chance to hold on to him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s going to happen. If the Cowboys reach a long-term deal with Aubrey before free agency starts on March 11, then they’ll keep him, but if that doesn’t happen, then things could get interesting.
If the two sides don’t agree to a new deal, the Cowboys would have to place a one-year restricted free agent tender on Aubrey. For the 2026 offseason, here are the three tender options (contract estimates via Overthecap):
- First-round tender ($8.02 million)
- Second-round tender ($5.81 million)
- Right-of-refusal tender ($3.55 million)
If the Cowboys were to use any of these three tenders on Aubrey, that means another team could come in and make an offer. If a team does make an offer, the Cowboys have the right to match it.
If the Cowboys used a first-round tender on Aubrey and he ends up signing with another team, then his new team would have to give Dallas a first-round pick as compensation. However, if Aubrey didn’t get any offers, he’d make $8.02 million on one-year deal with the Cowboys in 2026 as part of the first-round tender. In that situation, he’d become the highest-paid kicker in NFL history by far (The current title belongs to Harrison Butker, who makes $6.4 million per year with the Chiefs).
With the second-round tender, if Aubrey leaves for another team, then Dallas will get a second-round pick in return. With the right-of-refusal tender, the Cowboys would get zero compensation if Aubrey signs with another team. In all three instances, the Cowboys would get a chance to match any offer that’s made to Aubrey, so they do hold some serious leverage here.
Once again, the Cowboys could avoid this entire situation by getting a long-term deal done by March 11, but if that doesn’t happen, then the 31 other teams will be free to call him and make an offer (The Cowboys could also hit Aubrey with the franchise tag at a cost of $6.9 million, but then they wouldn’t be able to use the tag on any other player, so that seems unlikely).
Aubrey, who holds the NFL record for most field goals of 60 yards or more, is the ultimate kicking weapon and he’s one of the few kickers in the NFL who would be worth almost any price you have to pay to get him, including a possible first-round pick.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a four teams who should try to steal Aubrey from the Cowboys.
One note here, there are plenty of teams that need a kicker, but we’re going to stick with mostly indoor teams on our list, because Aubrey seems to thrive indoors. According to Pro Football Reference, he’s hit 93.8% of his field goal attempts while playing indoors in his career (dome or retractable roof), but just 78.3% while playing outdoors. No, that’s not a great percentage for outdoor kicks, but one of those misses came from 70. Basically, Aubrey is asked to do things that almost no other kicker in the league is asked to do, which hurts his accuracy rate.
This man is a weapon, so let’s check out who should pay up to get him.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams had one of the worst special teams units in the NFL last season and a big reason for that is because they struggled in the kicking department. Joshua Karty started the season as the kicker, but after hitting just 66.7% of his field goals through eight games, the Rams decided to move on. Harrison Mevis took over after that and went 12 of 13 to close out the season, which was solid, but he was never really tested from long range. He only attempted two kicks from outside 45 yards and he went 1 of 2 (50%).
Since taking over the Rams’ coaching job in 2017, Sean McVay has never had a true long-range kicker like Aubrey. During his three years in Dallas, Aubrey has hit seven field goals from 59 yards or longer, which is a huge number when you consider that the Rams have had ZERO field goals of 59 yards or longer during McVay’s nine seasons with the team. In 2025, the Rams were one of just three teams that didn’t have a single field goal longer than 52 yards.
Aubrey, who has a career long of 65 yards, is the only kicker in NFL history with three field goals of 63 yards or longer. With NFL teams getting the ball at the 35 on a touchback thanks to the new kickoff rules, the Rams would need just 15 yards to essentially be in Aubrey’s range.
Back in Week 2, the Cowboys were in that exact situation. After the Giants scored a touchdown to take a 37-34 lead on Dallas with just 25 seconds left to play, it looked like the Cowboys were going to lose, but they didn’t, because they have Aubrey. After the ensuing kickoff, the Cowboys drove just 21 yards, which put Aubrey in range for a 64-yard field goal that sent the game to overtime.
Aubrey then won the game in overtime with a 46-yard kick.
As crazy as it sounds, four of the Rams’ five regular-season losses might have gone differently in 2025 with Aubrey on their team.
- Week 3: Eagles 33-26 over Rams. The Rams lost this game because Philly blocked two L.A. field goals, including one that the Eagles returned for a touchdown. Aubrey gets a lot of height on his kicks and NONE of his field goal attempts were blocked in 2025, so the Rams likely win this game with Aubrey.
- Week 5: 49ers 26-23 over Rams. Karty missed a 53-yard field goal in the second half of this game and that’s exactly kind of kick that you bring in Aubrey for. Maybe the Rams still don’t win if that kick goes through — because it would have only meant a tie game — but it certainly would have made things more interesting.
- Week 16: Seahawks 38-37 over Rams. Mevis missed a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, which definitely hurt. Also, the Rams had a first-and-10 at their own 49-yard line in the final minute of regulation. With Aubrey on your team, you only need a few yards to get in field goal range and the Rams likely would have had called plays differently to reflect that. Instead, Matthew Stafford threw three straight incompletions and the Rams punted in an eventual loss.
- Week 17: Falcons 27-24 over Rams. The Rams got the ball at their own 35-yard line with just 21 seconds left and no timeouts. Stafford shot for the sideline on four straight throws, but came up empty each time. With Aubrey on the team, the Rams could’ve taken a shot over the middle as long as it got them to at least the 50. At that point, they could have spiked it and at least given Aubrey a chance from long range. There are only two or three kickers who would have a realistic chance from 68 and Aubrey is one of them.
Rams general manager Les Snead invented the “F them picks” philosophy and nothing would go along with that more than giving up a second- or first-round pick for Aubrey. That’s right, I stated first-round pick. If the Cowboys put a first-round tender on him, I still think this move would make sense for the Rams. They have two first-round picks and giving one up for the ultimate kicking weapon would be the ultimate “F them picks” move.
Atlanta Falcons
There is no team that had a bigger kicking nightmare in 2025 than the Atlanta Falcons. They finished tied for first place in the NFC South with an 8-9 record and they probably would have made the playoffs if they had a better kicker. Let’s take a look at all the times that a missed kick cost them a win last season:
- Week 1: Buccaneers 23-20 over Falcons. The Falcons lost their opener after Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field goal with just two seconds left. The Falcons decided to move on from Koo after the miss. He went 2 of 3 in the game against Tampa Bay, but after hitting just 73.5% of his field goals in 2024, the Falcons had lost confidence in him.
- Week 9: Patriots 24-23 over Falcons. The Falcons went on the road and had a chance to tie the game up in the fourth quarter after scoring a touchdown with under five minutes left to play, but John Parker Romo missed the extra point. If he had made the kick, it would have tied things up at 24 and the Falcons might have beaten the eventual AFC champions.
- Week 13: Jets 27-24 over Falcons. In this game, Zane Gonzalez missed a 50-yard field goal in the second half, which definitely hurt considering the Falcons ended up losing by three.
That’s three games that could have gone a different way with better kicking, and as you may or may have not noticed the three kicks above were all missed by different kickers, which means that yup, the Falcons used THREE DIFFERENT KICKERS last season. With Aubrey on the team, the Falcons probably win at least one of those games and with one extra win, they would have won the NFC South.
Over the past three seasons, the Falcons have only hit ONE field goal of more than 56 yards. In that same span, Aubrey has hit 13. With a new head coach in place, the Falcons are starting over this season and starting over at kicker by adding Aubrey would be a smart move.
Falcons fans have spent the past few months trying will this move into existence and now, Atlanta will have a chance to make it happen. Getting Aubrey would certainly be a bold move for Matt Ryan, who is in his first-year as the lead decision-maker in the Falcons’ front office.
New York Giants
There’s no coach in the NFL who takes kicking more seriously than John Harbaugh. During his time in Baltimore, the former Ravens coach had Justin Tucker, who was arguably the best kicker in NFL history during his prime years. After moving on from Tucker, the Ravens drafted Tyler Loop, who had a solid rookie season before missing a potential game-winning field goal in Week 18 that would have sent Baltimore to the playoffs.
In a twist of irony, the coach who prides himself on finding kickers lost his job because of a kicker.
Now that he’s in New York, you can bet that Harbaugh will look to fix the kicking position. The Giants used four kickers (and one punter) in 2025 and those kickers combined to hit an NFL-worst 87.8% of their extra points. Those kickers also combined to hit just 57.1% of their kicks from 40 yards or longer. Dating to the start of the 2024 season, the Giants haven’t hit a single field goal longer than 55 yards.
The Giants do have Graham Gano under contract, but he’s going to be 39 years old and he’s missed 28 games over the past three seasons, so it won’t be surprising if Harbaugh decides to bring a kicker in and if he wants to shock the rest of the league, that kicker will be Aubrey. It’s a move that would be win-win because it would help the Giants and make a division rival worse off at a key position.
Arizona Cardinals
Chad Ryland was the Cardinals’ kicker last season and he hit just 75.2% of his field goal attempts, which was the lowest percentage for any kicker with 25 attempts or more. Ryland hit just 58.8% of his kicks from 43 yards and longer, including 1 of 4 from outside 57 yards. As bad as the Cardinals (3-14) were last season, this is a team that lost seven games by seven points or less. Ryland missed at least one field goal in three different games that the Cardinals lost by three points or less.
If the Cowboys use a second-round tender on Aubrey, the Cardinals would have to give up the 34th overall pick in the draft to get him, which might be too expensive for this roster. Getting Aubrey only makes sense if you think it might put you over the top or in the Giants’ case, if you have a head coach who’s obsessed with having the best kicker in football. For the Cardinals, this cost might be too high, but the argument for it is that it’s not every day you have a chance to land a weapon like Aubrey, so why not do whatever possible to make it happen.
Using a first- or second-round pick to steal Aubrey might seem crazy, but he’s certainly worth it, especially since the NFL is in an era where almost every game seems to be close. In 2025, there were a total of 73 regular-season games decided by three points or less, which was tied for the most in NFL history. Every NFL team should be trying to get an edge wherever it can to help it win close games and when you have a kicker like Aubrey, that gives you an edge over everyone else.
