Nobody in Dallas was holding a parade when the offense stalled. Nobody threw a party when the defense gave up late leads. But when Brandon Aubrey lined up — 55 yards out, 60 yards out, it almost didn’t matter — the stadium held its breath in the best possible way.
Not out of fear. Out of anticipation. Because everybody in AT&T Stadium already knew how it was going to end.
Today, the Cowboys finally rewarded that feeling. Aubrey signed a four-year, $28 million extension, making him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history at $7 million a year.
It is a record deal for a position the league has spent decades underpaying and it is also, quietly the most honest thing Dallas has done in two years. They could not build a winner around him. But they were smart enough not to lose him.
Seven million dollars a year sounds like a lot for a kicker. It sounds like a lot until you remember what the alternative looks like some journeyman rookie missing a 42-yarder in a one-score game while the fanbase collectively ages ten years.
Aubrey does not do that. In three seasons he has rewritten the record books at his position, drilled field goals from distances that most kickers treat as science fiction and never once given Cowboys fans a reason to look away.
That kind of certainty has a price. Dallas just paid it.
The team still has problems. George Pickens needs a deal.
The roster has holes. The playoff drought stretches on. But for one Monday in April, the Cowboys did something simple, something overdue, and something right.
They kept their best player from leaving. He just happens to wear number 17 and never break a sweat. Now on to the NFL Draft.
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