Cowboy Corner: Will Miles Austin be a Cowboy in 2010?

Cowboys Offseason

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Is There A Chance Miles Austin Will Not Be A Cowboy In 2010?

After a breakout, Pro Bowl season, there is no question that wide receiver Miles Austin has plenty of value that the Dallas Cowboys not only want, but rely upon. After Terrell Owens departed and Roy Williams never filled his shoes, Austin stepped up and led the wide receiving corps.

The Cowboys brass is saying all of the right things, but fans can’t help but be a little nervous right now.

Austin is a free agent, although he is of the restricted variety. The good news is that the Cowboys can use a tender on him and it would take an opposing team to really make an effort above and beyond the call of duty to pry him from the Cowboys.

But that is possible – just ask the Seattle Seahawks when they lost Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson in a similar situation a few years ago.

The best way to secure Austin would be to either sign him to a long term contract or franchise tag him. The latter method would cost the team just under $10 million, which isn’t appealing and the former way is dicey considering there is no collective bargaining agreement beyond this year.

Right now, Austin is in the driver’s seat. Whether he gets the franchise tag or a long term deal, or is courted by another team for a lucrative contract, he should be thinking big for his next contract.

What the Cowboys are most likely to do is give him the highest restrictive free agency tender, which would mean two things:

For starters, any team that signed him would have to give a first- and third-round pick to the Cowboys in return if Austin did leave and sign with the new team and also, the Cowboys would have the option to match any deal that Austin would agree to with the new team.

Most NFL picks are expecting the Cowboys to use that tender because there won’t be many NFL teams that want to give up first and a third for him. At the same time, most NFL teams won’t find a receiver as good as Austin in the first round of the 2010 draft, so they might be tempted.

At the end of the day, expect Austin to be a Cowboy but there is some anxiety considering he isn’t locked up quite yet.