Training camp marks the return of football around the NFL, and for the Dallas Cowboys, their deadline to do deals before the upcoming 2025 season is fast approaching.
A year ago, 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 training camp, they’ve already re-signed Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson, and they’re obviously in talks with All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and others at the moment. Dallas COO and EVP Stephen Jones admitted as much.
“We obviously got a lot going on. … You just got to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s,” Jones said on Sunday, via The Athletic. “Everybody’s got to get comfortable and go from there.”
One of the non-Parsons players the Cowboys are currently in negotiations with cornerback DaRon Bland, the NFL‘s 2023 interceptions leader. Bland made it clear on Monday that he wants to get an extension done to remain in Dallas.
“Definitely Dallas is always where I want to be,” Bland said on Monday, via The Dallas Morning News. “Hopefully we can get it done. They’ve been [in] talks, but I’m not going to talk about that really. My agent will talk about [it].”
Should Bland be the next non-Parsons player in Dallas to be extended before the 2025 season kicks off? Or 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.
5. 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.
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4. 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 five 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.
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.
3. CB DaRon Bland
- Current contract status: Entering final year of rookie deal in 2025 with a salary of $5.346 million
- Extension projection: 5 years, $101.5 million
Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland has been among the NFL’s best at taking the football away since entering the league as a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. His 14 career interceptions are tied for the second-most in the league since 2022 with Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates III since 2022, and only Detroit Lions All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph (17 interceptions since 2022) has more in the span of Bland’s career. That stat is remarkable considering Bland didn’t record any interceptions in 2024 after a foot injury at the tail end of training camp limited him to just seven games last year.
However, Bland set the NFL single-season record for interception return touchdowns (five) in 2023 en route to leading the league with nine interceptions the year prior. As a rookie filling in at nickel corner for an injured Jourdan Lewis, Bland hauled in five interceptions. His versatility is one of the points he and his agent are certainly using in talks with the Cowboys front office right now. Dallas has rotated Bland inside and out throughout the offseason with the Cowboys lining him up in the slot quite a bit in the spring, but he views himself as more of an outside corner.
“Using me inside out my rookie year, that was the first time playing nickel in my life,” Bland said Monday, via The Dallas Morning News. “So it was a rough journey. It was fun but time to prove now I can do [it] inside and out.”
Given his ball skills and mostly lining up outside throughout his career, Bland will be asking for top of the market money for a cornerback. A five-year, $101 million extension would rank Bland second at his position in contract total value and sixth in average per year salary ($20.3 million). The length of the deal would be advantageous to the team spreading out his money for salary cap purposes.
2. 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.
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.
1. EDGE Micah Parsons
- Current contract status: Entering final year of rookie deal in 2025 on fully guaranteed, fifth-year option of $24.007 million
- Extension projection: 5 years, $206 million
Parsons is obviously the Cowboys’ top priority ahead of the 2025 season. He and Jerry Jones have been talking since January when he initiated a meeting on Jan. 10. He’s also a generational pass-rushing talent. Parsons, at the age of 26, is the first player since sacks became tracked as an individual statistic in 1982 to register 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons in the NFL. Hall of Famer Reggie White accomplished the feat in his first four seasons played in the NFL but not in his first four years in the league. White was the fourth overall pick in the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft but didn’t begin playing NFL football until the 1985 season. Parsons’ 330 quarterback pressures since entering the NFL in 2021 are also tied for the most in the league with Las Vegas Raiders Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby, according to TruMedia.
* Parsons was drafted 12th overall by the Cowboys in 2021
Given Parsons’ age and production, he will become the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback, and the league’s first $200 million non-quarterback. An average per year salary of $41.2 million over five years would make him the highest-non QB in APY just ahead of Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt ($41 million APY). A contract length of five years would likely be enough for the deal to fit Jones’ comfort level.
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Author: Garrett Podell
July 29, 2025 | 4:56 pm
