LINKWhen the Rams signed Tavon Austin to a four-year, $42 million extension in 2016, a lot of eyebrows were raised. He was coming off of his best season as a pro, hauling in 52 passes for 473 yards and five touchdowns, while also adding a career-high 434 yards rushing and four scores. And for the third straight year, he brought a punt return to the house, proving his value on special teams.
In hindsight, you can somewhat see why the Rams wanted to keep him around. However, upon further evaluation, extending him two years before he’d hit free agency was an unwise and costly decision.
Now, the Rams have other plans for No. 11.
After experimenting with him in the backfield, the Rams want to evaluate him as a true receiver, rather than simply an offensive weapon.
“I think the thing for Tavon is, even just thinking back to a year ago when we first got here as a coaching staff, we wanted to be able to evaluate Tavon as a receiver,” McVay said on ESPN Los Angeles. “We know he can take handoffs out of the backfield. We know he can do all of the jet sweeps and screens. But we want to see Tavon go into an offseason healthy and give him an opportunity to compete at the wide receiver position and demonstrate if he can provide some value there, where we can utilize him whether in the slot or outside.”
The Rams made a major change at wide receiver this offseason by replacing Sammy Watkins with Brandin Cooks. They’re both speedy wideouts with the ability to make big plays downfield, which is something the Rams had hoped Austin could be. Will 2018 be the year he finally puts it all together as a wide receiver? It’s possible, but given Los Angeles’ depth at the position, it’s unlikely.
McVay and the Rams are going to take it one step at a time with Austin, allowing him to compete for a larger role this offseason.
“I think really the goal for Tavon is let’s see how you approach and attack an offseason where you’re healthy and let’s try to fully develop you as a receiver detached from the core, whether that’s in the slot or outside. We’ll take it one day at a time from there,” McVay said.
If the Rams can’t make it work with Austin, it won’t cost them much. He redid his deal this offseason to convert $3 million of his $8 million cap hit into incentives, so he’ll likely count just $5 million against the cap in 2018.
