The Cowboys are signing fullback Hunter Luepke to a two-year contract extension, according to Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
The deal is worth a maximum value of $7.5MM and includes more than $5MM in fully guaranteed money, per Garafolo, representing a significant raise over the three-year, $2.715MM contract Luepke signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023 (via OverTheCap). He made the 53-man roster as a rookie and appeared in all 17 regular-season games, primarily on special teams. He expanded his role in 2024, more than doubling his snap count as a key blocker for the Cowboys offense.
While the base value of Luepke’s extension has yet to be reported, it should place him among the top five fullbacks in terms of APY. He was headed into a contract year with the potential for a RFA tag next offseason. The lowest tag number is projected to be a non-guaranteed $3.453MM (via OTC), so the Cowboys gave Luepke some extra guarantees in exchange for two years of team control at a reasonable cost.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones justified the Micah Parsons trade by saying that he could sign several other players with the money that Parsons would have otherwise received.
“That’s a good trade when you need numbers,” said Jones on Good Morning America on Wednesday (via Jon Machota of The Athletic). “I’ll take the numbers every time.”
Jones has started to follow through on his plans, signing DaRon Bland and Luepke to new contracts in the week since the Parsons trade and engaging Pro Bowl guard Tyler Smith in extension talks as well. While none of those players have the individual impact that Parsons does, the Cowboys are at least using the money they saved to build a well-rounded roster for the future.
whew. This makes up for the Parsons debacle. Super Bowl!!!!!
They Traded Micah so they can Afford This Guy!
Unnecessary. Stupid Jerry.
“it should place him among the top five fullbacks in terms of APY”
Not gonna lie, if you had asked me if there were more than 5 FB’s on NFL rosters at this point I’d have probably said no. Pleasantly surprised.
I only know Ravens and I think Vikes still have Ham. Bucs have one sort of but don’t line up like that.
Luepke is just a guy. A guy that should not be extended, in a salary cap league. Dallas should of let him walk, and drafted a replacement in the spring, at a fraction of the cost.
If he earns the maximum value of this contract he’ll make less per year than 17 kickers. It’s not that big a deal.