MLS flop Brandon Aubrey secures record-breaking NFL contract

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

After weeks of uncertainty and back-and-forth, former Major League Soccer defender Brandon Aubrey has signed a record-breaking new contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

The 31-year-old's remarkable journey in the NFL continues. Aubrey is now widely regarded as one of the best kickers in the league's history, despite only playing the sport since 2019.

At the time, he had just ended his soccer career after failing to establish himself in MLS. Aubrey, a goal-scoring centre-back, was drafted by Toronto FC in 2017 after a successful college career, but he was unable to break into the star-studded senior team.

After a year at TFC, he returned to the US and signed with Bethlehem Steel, the Philadelphia Union's second-tier reserve team at the time. Again, he lasted just 12 months and decided to hang up his boots to pursue a career in software engineering.

However, his wife convinced him to return to professional sports. After watching an NFL kicker miss a shot in 2019, she told him, "You could do that," which lit a fire in Aubrey.

Aubrey signs record-breaking contract

Fast forward to 2026, and Aubrey is now a household name in American football. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys after taking part in their summer camp in 2023 and made his NFL debut at age 28.

He has proved to be an exceptional pick-up by the Cowboys. It is rare for kickers to be genuine game-changers in the NFL, but that is exactly what Aubrey is. Thanks to his background in soccer, his kicking is simply deadly, even when he takes shots from 60+ yards.

Last year, he set a new single-season record for the most converted field goals from 60 yards or more. He has been an All-Pro in each of his three seasons in the NFL and has one of the best conversion rates in league history.

His contract situation has been a massive topic in recent months. A new deal was still not agreed when free agency opened in March, but due to NFL mechanisms, the Cowboys remained in control of the situation after placing a second-round tender on Aubrey.

This effectively guaranteed that Aubrey would stay for another year on a set salary, though it did give other franchises the option to make an offer for him in exchange for a second-round draft pick.

Giving up a high draft pick for a kicker would have been unthinkable previously. However, with Aubrey, there was talk that some teams could actually be tempted. Predictably, though, it didn't happen before the deadline passed last week.

Dallas took a calculated risk because they knew that it would have required an extreme level of desperation for a franchise to offer a draft pick in addition to shouldering Aubrey's new contract.

Even for a kicker as good as him, the value of the position is ultimately such that it just wouldn't have made financial sense because his new deal was always going to be a historic one.

And indeed, Aubrey has now become the highest-paid kicker in NFL history after agreeing terms with the Cowboys through 2030. He will earn $28m over the course of the next four years. His $7m annual salary is $600,000 more than previous record-holder Harrison Butker's.

"I'm just excited to be home. I've been here my whole life. It's a place that's special to me," Aubrey said of the Dallas area after signing his extension.

"My family, my wife's family is still here, so it was a priority for me to stay put. I think this is a world-class organization. I think the world of them. So excited to be home."

Of his record-breaking deal, he said: "That means the world. Because it just means people view me as a top player at my position. So I just have to keep going, keep proving those people correct, and find a way to win a lot of games."

Aubrey in good company

Courtesy of his stunning impact since joining the Cowboys, Aubrey is perhaps the most recognisable former soccer player who has made it to the NFL. However, he is far from the only one.

Josh Lambo spent eight seasons in the league, most notably with the Jacksonville Jaguars. A goalkeeper growing up, he had a trial with Everton as a teenager and was a US youth international. Despite being picked in the first round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, he never made a senior appearance for FC Dallas.

Harrison Butker and Jake Bates both played college soccer, while Cairo Santos grew up playing the sport in Brazil. Devin Barclay did things the other way around, playing college football after a professional soccer career that saw him feature for various teams in MLS in the early 2000s. Like Lambo, Barclay was a US youth international.

Former England striker Clive Allen played as a placekicker for the London Monarchs in NFL Europe. Toni Fritsch, Garo Yepremian, Morten Andersen, Jan Stenerud, Toni Linhart and Neil O'Donoghue all played in the NFL after concluding their soccer careers in Europe.

Meanwhile, current England captain Harry Kane has made no secret of his desire to eventually become a kicker in the NFL.

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