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.
San Fran?
Oh yeah Juice.
About 10 teams have fullbacks listed on their depth chart, with the Seahawks having TWO!
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.
He’s actually an interesting player, albeit at the league’s most devalued position. Everything that Jerry does now is evaluated in light of the Parsons trade, but independently, this is one of those moves that probably would have gotten done either way because it’s so minor.
Yeah, it’s a rounding error. A year’s worth of Luepke costs what, like five quarters of Parsons?
This has nothing to do with Parson. Luepke is a below average FB (according to the numbers), has 18 rushes for 57 yards, and 15 catches for 129 yards in THREE seasons. He simply is not the type of player who should be rewarded with a contract extension. Save the peanuts, let Hunter walk in FA, draft another FB at the minimum, and give that little bit of extra money to a difference maker.
I could argue ALL kickers (punters included) are more valuable than Luepke.
If you’re judging him by rushing and receiving numbers, I’m not sure you’re getting the point of him.
No, I am judging him on his actual performance on the field. 15 for 129 receiving, 18 for 52 rushing, below average run & pass blocking grades according to Pro Football Focus, and 7 tackles made on special teams. Again, those are all THREE year totals…. So please tell me what he brings to the team that is not replaceable at the league minimum?
PFF had him graded in pass blocking at 69.3, which is well above average. Especially for a second season. There’s continuity on staff, so presumably they like him. Assuming a rookie fullback can come in and block as well is unrealistic and this contract is very little money.
You are wrong again. According to PFF – 70 is average. 80 is good. 90 is elite. So 69 is indeed below average. Slightly below, yes. But 69.3 is definitely not 80 or whatever your definition of well above average is. Again, he is a poor blocker (as the numbers state) and should be easily replaceable given he brings no true value to the team.
Ok man. The people that have had him in the building seem to disagree. We’re also only talking about his third and fourth years, so he might still be growing. This is once again a very small amount of money.
The same people who have how many playoffs wins this decade? NFC’s? SB’s? Or the signed an average QB to the richest deal in football history? Traded an elite pass rusher for an under market return. Traded a signed WR for a 5th (Cooper) and then realized they need WR help and traded a 3rd for 1 year of Pickens. The list of miss steps the people in the building have, can go on for days. The only good thing about this mistake with Hunter is that it is cheap. But that money still would/could be better off spent elsewhere.
The people who’ve had him in the building seem to disagree. They also might think he’s improving going into what would be the two back years of a rookie contract if he had been drafted.
Playing fullback isn’t about fantasy football. It’s mostly about blocking for the running back and playing special teams well, which he does. Those numbers don’t show up on stat sheets. There’s a reason why they are disappearing as teams focus on passing most downs or using a TE as an inline blocker.
Analytics are widely available to anyone, including yourself. All you have to do is take the time to look at the actual data. But I can save you the steps – Hunter has negative grades in rushing, receiving, run/pass block win rates, and special teams (7 tackles in). These are 3 year totals… So, he has not been a benefit on the field in any form or fashion other than possibly being a good teammate. But last I checked, being a good teammate doesn’t win football games. Performance on the field does. And that is something that Luepke has not shown. He has played well just enough to get a HS coaching job in North Dakota thou…
Like an NFL exec said. Parsons is great in the regular season until the playoffs, when you run the ball right at him.
“People in the building” – you must be referring to Jerry. Because the coaches thought differently tonight than the rest of those people in the building. Luepke played one offensive snap tonight. Mid 3rd quarter, 3rd and 1, Luepke went into the RG/RT gap, play call was a designed toss left outside of the LT for Williams. They purposely ran away from Luepke’s blocking assignment. So, Luepke had no impact at all on offense or special teams tonight. Like I said yesterday, the extension was not warranted… Wasted money and if he doesn’t play more than he did tonight, Luepke is a wasted roster space.
Jeruh, stop using Parsons trade as a reason for these minor moves your making. Your looking like more of a fool every time you open your mouth