FRISCO, Texas — Seth Walder’s bold prediction for the Dallas Cowboys in ESPN’s 2026 team previews, published Sunday, is that Brandon Aubrey leads the NFL in field goals over expected.
Walder, ESPN’s analytics writer, wrote that Aubrey is an elite kicker who signed a record extension this offseason and still has never led the league in the NFL Next Gen Stats measure.
“Incredibly, Aubrey has finished second in every season of his three-year career,” Walder wrote.
Last year Aubrey went 36-of-42 on field goals and 47-of-48 on extra points. From 50 yards and out he was 11-of-17.
Three seasons in, he is 112-of-127 on field goals with 462 points. He has been to the Pro Bowl all three years and made the Associated Press All-Pro second team last season.
Brandon Aubrey Signed A Record Kicker Extension With The Dallas Cowboys
The extension came this offseason, four years and $28 million, the most any kicker has been paid, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Before that, Dallas had put a second-round restricted free agent tender on him at $5.76 million.
Aubrey is 31, born March 14, 1995, in St. Louis. He got to football late. He played center back at Notre Dame. Toronto FC drafted him in 2017. He spent 2018 with Bethlehem Steel FC and then switched to football. Dallas signed him in 2023. He has kicked every season since.
Cowboys players voted him one of four captains for 2026. Dak Prescott is another, and two players are new to it.
Seth Walder Also Weighed In On The Dallas Cowboys Roster
Walder wrote one bold prediction per team, 32 in all. The rest of the Cowboys section came from Todd Archer, who covers the team for ESPN and named the offense its biggest strength and the defense its biggest concern. Archer put the bar for the season at a playoff berth.
ESPN’s Football Power Index projects 9.2 wins for Dallas. It gives the Cowboys a 51.9% chance of making the playoffs. FPI rates the Dallas schedule the fourth-hardest in the league. The Cowboys ranked 11th of 32 teams in the preview.
Dallas went 7-9-1 last year. The Cowboys have missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons. The offense averaged 391.9 yards a game, second in the NFL. It scored the seventh-most points. Last season the defense allowed more points than any team in the league. It ranked 30th in yards allowed.
Aubrey has made 88.2% of his career field goal tries.
The opener is Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, against the New York Giants, 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. It is the 128th meeting between the two, and the first home game for Giants coach John Harbaugh, who spent 18 years in Baltimore before New York hired him.
