NFL free agency: Ka’imi Fairbairn deal likely to impact Brandon Aubrey negotiations

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 05: Brandon Aubrey #17 of the Dallas Cowboys looks on after kicking a field goal against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium on January 05, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The number for Brandon Aubrey just went up in all likelihood. Free agency is off and running across the NFL, and while part of the process is finding players, another is paying attention to the market across the rest of the league.

The Dallas Cowboys are on the board with a few external free agents, but they have likely been paying attention to what wide receivers are getting as negotiations relate to George Pickens. Thankfully, there hasn’t been anything all too massive on that front. It is worth noting that players like Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have the potential to reset the market themselves at any moment with extensions from their current teams.

Brandon Aubrey’s number likely just went up

George Pickens is one of two notable players who the Cowboys have on their roster that they are in negotiations with. While Pickens received the franchise tag, kicker Brandon Aubrey received a second-round tender. These are different roster mechanisms that effectively tie the players to the team through this season while allowing for negotiations to happen both internally and externally, but the main point is that the team protected themselves in both instances.

From an Aubrey perspective, the market at his position has indeed moved in a serious way. Before free agency began Kansas City’s Harrison Butker was the highest-paid kicker in the NFL from an annual average value perspective at $6.4M per year. That came to an end on Tuesday when the Houston Texans put together an extension for Ka’imi Fairbairn to lock him in at $6.5M.

The #Texans have agreed to a two-year, $13 million contract extension with Ka’imi Fairbairn, making him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, sources tell me and @RapSheet. pic.twitter.com/wANqNqgJeh

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2026

It has always made sense that Brandon Aubrey will get paid around this territory if and when a long-term deal is reached with the team, so the presence of a new contract at the top of the mountain is hardly anything to panic over. It just kind of is what it is.

The tender value for Aubrey is $5.76M which is not too far off of what Fairbairn is making, a point of leverage that works in favor of the Cowboys. They have a lot of leverage at their disposal which is why this could take some time. Whatever the case, Fairbairn is now the number to beat.