How the Cowboys and Brandon Aubrey finalized his $28 million contract

Brandon Aubrey was kicking inside the Ford Center on Monday when the music stopped. The Dallas Cowboys kicker was playing songs over his phone when it started ringing.

It was his agent Todd France, letting Aubrey know that he just agreed to a deal that would make his client the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.

Aubrey’s wife and son were also in the building when the call came through, making for the perfect timing to celebrate as a family. Aubrey then finished up his kicking session while the contract details were finalized. He then went upstairs at the Cowboys headquarters and signed the four-year, $28 million extension that includes $20 million guaranteed. The deal keeps Aubrey in Dallas through the 2030 season.

“It hasn’t sunk in just yet,” Aubrey said. “I do feel like a weight or stress deep down is gone. I’m able to kind of enjoy day-to-day life a little bit more again. … In the moment, (I felt) joy, excitement. I had been pushing to get it done as fast as we could, which isn’t the way a lot of agents like to do it. They want to slow play it and the teams like to slow play it. I wanted both parties to kind of come to the table and get it done faster, and both parties were willing to do that. It’s just exciting to get it done before training camp, which is how a lot of these things seem to go, and I can actually have a moment at home with the family, enjoy it and start planning our lives.”

Aubrey and his wife are expecting their second child in June. They are in the process of building a new home in the Dallas area.

Aubrey said the Cowboys made a contract offer early last season. It was close to what the three-time All-Pro was seeking. Dallas turned down the counteroffer, which led to Aubrey choosing to table talks until after the season.

When negotiations didn’t pick up during the offseason, Aubrey communicated to France that he’d like to get something done as soon as possible.

Source: Spotrac

“To the Cowboys’ credit,” Aubrey said, “they responded promptly to him and actually reached out to him proactively, which worked for us.”

Aubrey is arguably the league’s best kicker, making 112 of his 127 field goal attempts (88.2 percent). His greatest strength is his accuracy from long distance, making 35 of 44 from 50-plus yards.

“Even though there are some guarantees on the contract now, teams can eat dead money if they have to and move on if you’re a hindrance to the team’s success,” Aubrey said, “so it’s always one kick at a time. … I just wanted to find my way on a roster and cling onto that position as long as possible. I know there’s a lot of movement at the kicker position, (but) if you’re one of the good ones you can hold onto a spot for a long time. My goal was always just to get that opportunity to have my name on an NFL roster, and then from there, I just wanted to take it kick by kick to keep my name on the roster. And that’s what I’m going to keep doing and keep focusing on. The only goal is to make the next kick.”