Cowboys just created perfect Brandon Aubrey leverage with clever move – Jerry Trotta, Fansided
Regarding Brandon Aubrey, the Cowboys grabbed their leverage.
Unlike the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes, the Brandon Aubrey saga is not over. That said, the Dallas Cowboys have taken a big step toward ensuring Aubrey’s return. ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported that the Cowboys placed the second-round tender on Aubrey, which was the expectation all along. Aubrey can now negotiate and sign an offer sheet with another team, which Dallas would have the right to match. If the Cowboys decline, they would receive
a second-round pick as compensation. The tender is worth $5.76 million, which makes Aubrey the third-highest-paid kicker behind the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker and the Eagles’ Jake Elliott, who make $6.4 million and $6 million per year, respectively.
The Dallas Cowboys have placed the second-round tender on Brandon Aubrey
According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the Cowboys have an offer on the table that would make Aubrey the NFL’s highest-paid kicker. That offer did not exceed $7 million per year, however, and Archer said that Aubrey’s agent, Todd France, countered by asking for close to $10 million per year. Negotiations have not progressed since they started in training camp last summer, though Schefter expects Aubrey to be the new highest-paid kicker when all is said and done.
The unfortunate thing for Aubrey is that he had little leverage to begin with, and the tender further tilts the scales in the Cowboys’ favor. There are three possible outcomes here, and all of them benefit Dallas. Either Aubrey and the team agree to a new deal, he plays the 2026 season on the tender, or he signs an offer sheet elsewhere, and Jerry Jones receives a second-round pick.
Losing Aubrey would be easier to swallow if that were the consolation prize. Remember: the Cowboys do not have a second-rounder this year because of the Quinnen Williams trade. The best outcome is Aubrey re-upping with Dallas. However, Jones must show the same restraint he did during trade talks for Maxx Crosby.
Cowboys should consider Tremaine Edmunds in 2026 – Cody Warren, Inside the Star
Dallas should look at this veteran linebacker to rebuild this defense.
Why Did the Bears Move On
I know this move wasn’t about ability, but was solely based on money, because Tremaine Edmunds is still one of the best linebackers in the NFL. The issue was that the Chicago Bears signed Edmunds to a four-year,$72 million deal in 2023, but for the 2026 season he carried a cap hit of over $17 million. That’s apparently a huge number for the Bears on off-ball linebackers. The cap flexibility was needed more than the player, so they cut him. This means a 27-year-old starting linebacker with elite production is suddenly available.
Tremaine Edmunds’ Career Production
If you look at the numbers, Edmunds has been one of the most consistent linebackers in football since he entered the NFL. In his eight-year career, Tremaine Edmunds has started 119 of a possible 132 games. During that time, he has 900+ tackles, 41 tackles for loss, 14 interceptions, 53 passes defended, and 8.5 sacks. He has also had 100+ total tackles every season of his career. Last season alone, he accounted for 112 total tackles and four interceptions. That many interceptions from a linebacker is rare and should be something the Cowboys are interested in after last season’s defensive debacle.
The Size and Athleticism Fits the New Look Defense
I think another reason Tremaine Edmunds has been so productive is his physical profile. He’s built the way modern defenses want a linebacker standing at 6’4” to 6’5” and weighing 250+ pounds, with long arms and sideline-to-sideline range. Because of his size and athleticism, he can match up with tight ends and still be strong enough to fill run gaps. Being a player who can affect an offense in different ways is one of the reasons he has started every game he has played in his career.
11 free agent edge-rush targets for Cowboys after missing on Crosby – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
No Maxx Crosby, but that doesn’t mean the defensive end market has dried up. Here are some players the Cowboys could turn their attention to.
The Dallas Cowboys have very little time to lick their wounds from their failed attempt to acquire edge rusher Maxx Crosby in a trade. The team ponied up at least the No. 12 pick and a 2027 second rounder, potentially even more, but were denied thanks to the Ravens sending the Raiders two first-round selections. Now Dallas has to move on to their contingency plans for adding pass-rush pressure to what was an anemic sack game in 2025.
With Christian Parker replacing Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator, Dallas will be switching to a 3-4 defense for the fall, meaning that the prototypical edge rusher will have a handful of snaps each game where they are asked to drop back into coverage. 3-4 linebackers are typically a little lighter and quicker than 4-3 defensive ends, but there are plenty who can do both. So which free agents should the Cowboys’ be looking at? Here, we’ve taken the Top 100 rankings from five different outlets (Pro Football Focus, NFL.com, FOX Sports, USA Today and CBS Sports) as of March 6, as well as the projected average annual value (AAV) from Spotrac and PFF, to augment which players best fit the expected Parker defense.
11. Malcolm Koonce
Age: 282025 PFF Grade: 58.0
Expected AAV: $8 million
10. Bradley Chubb
Age: 30
2025 PFF Grade: 54.5
Expected AAV: $18.5 million
9. Kwity Paye
Age: 27
2025 PFF Grade: 59.0
Expected AAV: $14 million
8. K’Lavon Chaisson
Age: 27
2025 PFF Grade: 59.0
Expected AAV: $12 million
7. Arnold Ebiketie
Age: 27
2025 PFF Grade: 74.9
Expected AAV: $8.5 million
Eight free agency mistakes the Cowboys need to avoid in 2026 – One Cool Customer, Blogging the Boys
The Cowboys have to mindful of some treacherous moves they can make during free agency.
The legal negotiation period for free agency will begin at noon ET on March 9, and players can officially sign with new teams starting at 4 p.m. ET on March 11. The opening of free agency kicks of desperate scramble between teams for the best free agents, which makes this a good time to remember that desperation often leads to dumb decisions in the NFL, and this year perhaps more than most, as Matthew Berry of NBC Sports writes in his “Most Interesting Things I Heard At 2026 NFL Combine” column.
Last note that one agent said to me. “Gonna be a really interesting free agency. 10 new head coaches, 20 new coordinators, so much turnover this year that staffs haven’t had enough time to do film work/research/scheme fit for everyone available.”
I asked him if he thought that meant there would be some delayed signings or more mistakes than normal as teams just rush in and worry about “missing out” even if they haven’t done a proper amount of research? He said “I don’t know. I just know it’s gonna be wild and weird.”
On March 9, hundreds of free agents will become available, and all of them share one defining characteristic: their old team did not want to re-sign them. Perhaps because the team didn’t want to pay the price the player is demanding, perhaps because the player is too old/injured/ineffective, perhaps because the player has fallen out of favor with a new coaching staff, perhaps the player was no longer a scheme fit; whatever the reason, the fact that their old team didn’t want them anymore should make every acquiring team wary of the free agents on offer. Here are a eight common free agency mistakes the Cowboys should be particularly wary of in 2026:
1. The pass rusher coming off a big year
We know that historically pass rushers coming off a big year in terms of sacks tend to regress to the mean in the following year. The problem with free agent pass rushers who are coming off a big performance is that teams will pay them in 2026 like it’s still 2025. And that will almost inevitably not end well for the acquiring teams.
Of the 16 highest-paid edge rushers in free agency, only five were able to improve on their sack total from the previous year with their new team, one maintained his level, and ten saw a drop in their sack totals. Understanding that sacks are an incomplete metric to measure an edge rusher, this is still concerning. Overall production from this group of premier pass rushers dropped from 84 to 63 sacks, a drop of 25%. For the ten players that weren’t able to at least maintain their sack total, production dropped from 56 to 22 sacks, a decline of 60%. If you were paying premium dollar for an eight-sack guy and only got three sacks in return, would you feel you made a good investment?
This of course in an exercise you can repeat for almost any stat and end up with similar results. It’s called regression to the mean and it occurs in almost all data sets that compare one period to another.
Ideally you want to find players you can pay for potential instead of past performance (which they are unlikely to repeat) – though that is not easily done in free agency.
Last year, the Cowboys signed three edge rushers to moderate deals. Dante Fowler signed a one-year, $6.0 million deal, Jadeveon Clowney got a $3.5 million one-year deal, and Payton Turner signed a $2.5 million one-year deal. Fowler only got three sacks, Clowney got 8.5, and Turner spent the year on IR. That’s a combined 11.5 sacks for a combined annual contract value of $12 million.My pocket calculator tells me that’s the equivalent of almost $1 million per sack. Compare that dollar-per-sack ratio to any of the free agents above, and the Cowboys got a better deal than almost any other team investing in a premier free agent. I am well aware that this didn’t help the defense in any shape of form, but in the salary cap era, spending your money wisely is generally a good strategy.
While we are inundated with “Maxx Crosby/Trey Hendrickson to the Cowboys” stories, if the Cowboys are going spend big money on a free agent edge rusher, chances are they’ll look at a guy who’s on Bill Barnwell’s third tier of pass rushers, which he calls “Capable starters.”
Free agents: Joey Bosa, Bills; K’Lavon Chaisson, Patriots; Khalil Mack, Chargers; Boye Mafe, Seahawks; Odafe Oweh, Chargers; Kwity Paye, Colts; Jaelan Phillips, Eagles
