The 2025 NFL season is mere days away, and for the Dallas Cowboys, their deadline to do deals before the upcoming 2025 season is about to arrive.
In 2023, the Cowboys re-signed All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb shortly after the team returned home to Texas from Oxnard, California, and they re-signed three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott hours before kickoff in Week 1 at the Cleveland Browns.
This offseason, they’ve re-signed Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson, shockingly traded away All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and re-signed 2023 All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland on Sunday.
“We’re a draft and develop team. We want to draft guys. We want to develop them. We’ve shown that we have a great history here, long before I got here, of drafting players and developing them. And I think the cool thing when you look at the guys that you do that with is usually they don’t change,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said after Bland re-signed on Sunday. “Fergy has not changed a bit. He’s still the enforcer that he likes to be and half bit crazy all the time, which is awesome. I love being around him, and DaRon’s not going to change. So I think anytime you can draft these guys, develop them and then get them into a second contract, it’s good to see and you’re thrilled for them and their family.”
So who should be next to be extended before the 2025 season kicks off in the wake of the additional cap space the trade of Parsons freed up? Should ownership perhaps prioritize left guard Tyler Smith, kicker Brandon Aubrey or maybe even new Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens? Let’s rank the players Dallas should be prioritizing on its extensions to-do list and project what their next deals could potentially look like if they were signed prior to the upcoming season getting underway. The player who sits at number one on this received Schottenheimer’s stamp of approval to be the next guy to be financially set for life.
3. K Brandon Aubrey
- Current contract status: Entering final year of current deal in 2025 with a salary of $1.03 million
- Extension projection: 4 years, $27 million
Sentimentally, many Cowboys fans would rank kicker Brandon Aubrey, a two-time All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowler in both of his NFL seasons, higher on this list. He rewrote NFL record books in his first year in the league in 2023 thanks to making his first 35 field goals in a row. That shattered the record for most made field goals in a row to begin a career, and he ended up just three made field goals short of breaking the league’s all-time record for most made field goals in a row (37 by former Indianapolis Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt in 2003). Aubrey ended 2023 as the NFL’s season leader in made field goals, converting on 36 of his 38 attempts, which earned him All-Pro honors.
The 2024 season was slightly more chaotic, but Aubrey was just as proficient from long range. He made 40 of his 47 field goals overall, including an NFL single-season record of 14 from 50 yards or deeper. That figure included a 65-yard field goal Aubrey made in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens, the longest made field goal in Cowboys history and the second-longest made field goal in NFL history. He ended up as the league’s second-team All-Pro for 2024.
It’s obvious Aubrey is already an all-time weapon as a kicker, but the reason he is fifth on this list is purely because of his positional value. As for what an Aubrey extension could like, it will likely be one that resets the kicker positional market. Aubrey’s agent is Todd France, the same agent for Prescott — the league’s highest-paid player based on average per salary ($60 million). Kansas City Chiefs three-time Super Bowl champion kicker Harrison Butker currently leads all kickers in contract total value ($25.6 million) and average per year salary ($6.4 million), so an Aubrey extension will likely end up beating Butker’s deal in both metrics.
2. WR George Pickens
- Current contract status: Entering final year of rookie deal in 2025 with a salary of $3.656 million
- Extension projection: 3 years, $58 million
Jerry Jones re-signing wide receiver George Pickens before the 2025 season begins is probably the most unlikely of these three contracts to get done in this time frame. That’s because Jones acquired Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a trade in May, meaning he’s never seen him suit up in a real game for Dallas.
However, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be prudent. Pickens comes over from an offense that struggled to find any consistency at quarterback the 24-year-old’s entire NFL career, and now the explosive deep threat gets to line up across from an All-Pro in Lamb and catch passes from the 2023 NFL MVP runner-up. Despite being Pittsburgh’s clear-cut No. 1 option among a sea of misfit toys over the years, Pickens averaged an NFL-best 16.7 yards per reception across the last two seasons, a figure that leads the entire NFL among 61 players with at least 110 catches since 2023.
“Yeah. I mean, from day one, he made it easy, man. He’s a guy that gets open, big target, runs hard, plays like a team player. So whether it’s the run [blocking] or not, he’s doing his job,” Prescott said of Pickens on Sunday. “And it’s been easy, and it’s only gotten better and better and better. It’s really because of the player he is, and the buy in that he’s had into this offense. Whether it’s learning, learning more and asking for more because he’s mastered that. Super excited to have another guy like that out there.”
He’ll likely make a leap in 2025 in a much more pass-friendly offensive ecosystem, so it could be wise for Jones to lock Pickens down now. If the Cowboys do decide to be proactive, they could save a lot of money on the back end by signing Pickens now. Based on his career numbers (174 catches for 2,841 yards receiving and 12 receiving touchdowns in three seasons) and his age (24), perhaps Jones could re-sign Pickens to a three-year, $58 million deal. That would surpass Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy‘s three-year, $52.5 million extension he signed at the same age, and the length of the deal would allow Pickens to be up for another deal in the midst of his prime at 27 years old.
1. LG Tyler Smith
- Current contract status: Entering second to last year of rookie deal in 2025 on a $2.530 million base salary
- Extension projection: 4 years, $95 million
Two-time Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith is now the leader of the Cowboys offensive line after the offseason retirements of both Zack Martin and Tyron Smith. Both of those future Cowboys Ring of Honor members anointed Smith someone who “will go down as one of the greatest.” ESPN’s survey of NFL coaches, scouts and executives also voted Smith as the league’s second-best interior offensive lineman. That’s why Schottenheimer banged the table for Jones to re-sign Smith.
“I think the guy is an All-Pro guard. He’s an incredible talent. He’s another guy that’s draft and develop. He was drafted as a tackle at Tulsa. He comes in here, plays tackle, then we got to move you to guard. The power that he possesses is crazy,” Schottenheimer said. “The thing I love about Tyler is that he hasn’t checked up one day. He’s probably one of our hardest practice players that we have. He doesn’t miss a beat and hasn’t said a word. That’s one of the things you respect about him as a competitor. What a talent. Hopefully, he’s the next one that’s able to get done.”
Re-signing the 24-year-old will require resetting the interior offensive lineman market that was recently reset by Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith, and his four-year, $94 million extension. Jones will likely have to go just a smidge higher to re-sign Tyler Smith ahead of Week 1.
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