Miles Austin, Come Back to Texas!

It appears Miles Austin is using the only negotiating leverage he has to try to secure a big money, long term deal this offseason. Since Miles Austin was tendered by the Cowboys there hasn't been a any public interest in him. And that makes sense considering the other receivers who are also available this offseason. The timing for Miles Austin's breakout season couldn't have been worse for him financially. In a normal year he would have become an unrestricted free agent and would have probably been given the franchise tag by the Cowboys which would have guaranteed him about $10 million next season.

So now he has to try to get a long term deal worked out with the team or he will make about $3.168 million next season. That is not chump change...at least not to a regular guy like me. But when you are talking about a player with possibly only one or two chances to secure a big money deal in his career you definitely understand why Miles is looking for a long term commitment. What if he gets hurt this season? The scary part of being an NFL player is that you are always one play away from a career ending injury. So you have to strike while the iron is hot in terms of a contract.

And all of the people running around talking about Miles Austin becoming a diva receiver clearly have no idea what they are talking about. Everyone who truly follows the Cowboys either as a fan or in the media knows that Miles Austin is no diva. He loves football and he is a team player. Staying away from the voluntary offseason workouts isn't a sign that one big season has gone to his head. He is still the same guy. He just has to make sure that he gets the money he deserves. Unfortunately for him the Cowboys hold nearly all the cards in the negotiations. So he is exercising the only leverage he has.

While I understand his reasoning, I also am anxious to see Miles and all of the rest of the RFA's back with the team participating in the offseason workouts. Tony Romo talked to ESPN over the weekend and seemed to hint that Miles would be back with the team sooner than later.

I'm hoping that once the RFA deadline hits on Thursday then Miles will come back to work out with the team. At that point he has the choice to play for the Cowboys or not play football at all next season. He can stay away until the June minicamps if he chooses, but I don't think that will happen. I think he is making a statement right now to Jerry Jones and the Cowboys that he wants a long term commitment. I think everyone already realizes how important he is to the hopes of the team next season. We all saw how the offense transformed after he established himself as the top receiver.

I think Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, Miles Austin and his agent all need to sit down and have a chat. The Cowboys have a history of paying to keep their own players. It needs to be made clear that Miles will get paid as soon as he gets off to a good start this season. In the meantime he can sign his injury waiver and his RFA tender offer that will guarantee him more money this year than he has received in his entire career up to this point.

At this point I think we all want to see Miles back with his teammates. Jerry Jones will play Miles what he is worth and probably even a little more as long as Miles is patient. I'm feeling confident that he won't get any bites in the RFA market in the next three days so now he just needs to get to Valley Ranch and get to work. Workouts in California are good, but he needs to get back to Texas with his teammates.

More Thoughts on the 2009 Draft

Now that everything has calmed down and I have had a chance to clear my head and spend a little time finding out more about the players drafted I feel better informed to offer my opinion on how things turned out for the Dallas Cowboys in this years draft. Before I start, I can only pray that most of you reading this understand that any opinions or draft grades offered by any of the various media sources at this point are pure conjecture. It is extremely difficult to project whether any of these guys will turn out to be impact players over the next 5-10 years. Anyone who wants to tell you unequivocally that the draft was boom or bust is just blowing smoke. It is going to take a few years before we find out what we really got in this draft.

And I don't like hearing all of the talk about how the Cowboys should have traded up higher in the draft. They were working those phones during the second round like madmen but they just couldn't seem to find a trading partner. You could tell if you were watching the War Room camera that they were disappointed when the run on players they wanted started about 10 picks before the Cowboys were up. It seemed like all of the players rated as second round picks on their draft board were gone when they finally got their chance so Jerry and Stephen Jones made the decision to trade down to acquire picks so that they wouldn't be forced to reach for a player. Could they have overpaid to move up in the draft? Probably, but then everyone would slam them just as hard as they are now for not trading up. Going into the draft without the first and third round pick they traded for Roy Williams left them with their hands tied early in the draft.

Overall, I thought the Cowboys did a very average job in the draft. Jason Williams looks like a phenomenal athlete and several of the defensive backs look like they could develop into good players. I didn't expect any big time players given their draft position but I expected a little more since they went into the draft with so many picks to use as ammunition to trade into spots to get they guys they had rated high on their draft board. I can't get past the fifth round pick for a kicker. Jerry can try to sell us all he wants on that pick but I see that one as a waste unless they are setting something up for a trade. I just don't see how you can justify keeping two kickers and a punter active on game day no matter how they try to spin that one.

I've heard draft grades for the Cowboys anywhere between an F and a B+. That just shows you how subjective the grading process is at this point. What I am looking at to assess the draft is how they addressed their roster needs. The only positions I thought didn't get enough attention were speed receiver/punt returner and defensive tackle. I guess they really think highly of Junior Siavii since they didn't feel it necessary to draft depth at defensive tackle. The only thing I can say is still a need coming out of the draft is track star speed at wide receiver. I know Jerry Jones is going to say that Miles Austin is the speed receiver, but I wanted a guy who can run past anyone in the league. There were countless opportunities in the draft to get a 4.2 or 4.3 forty guy fairly late in the process and they never made the pick.

I am putting my trust in the scouting department and hoping that several of these guys can become good players. They have cornerbacks, safeties, linebackers, a quarterback, a kicker, and an offensive lineman to develop. The odds are in the Cowboys' favor that a few of them will become quality players just based on percentages since they picked 12 players. They can't all be busts...I hope.

What became obvious if it wasn't already is that Roy Williams has to prove that he was worth what the Cowboys gave up to get him. The focus of the draft was defense so clearly the coaching staff believes they have the playmakers in place for a successful offense. He is the first round pick in a sense so he has to produce to make the draft successful. Roy Williams has the weight of the world on his shoulders this season. I hope he is up to the task of being a big time #1 receiver.

Final Thoughts Before the Draft

It sure seems like Jerry Jones is starting to loosen his grip on the general manager duties. More and more we are seeing Stephen Jones get publicly involved in major roster decisions. I get the feeling that the Terrell Owens move was the moment when Jerry finally gave in to his son and started to give him some control. T.O. went out of his way to point out that he believes it was Stephen who wanted him out. Good for Jerry for finally realizing he had too much on his plate if that is indeed what is going on. Some of the moves that have been made since the end of the season have been out of character for the Cowboys so it is hard to believe that Stephen isn't getting more of a say in the final decisions.

Now we just need to see a continuation of the decision making during the draft like we saw last season. If Jerry can keep from getting antsy while so many teams are making picks in front of him we can probably steal a few guys who slip down farther than expected. I wouldn't mind seeing the Cowboys move up a few spots to get one of the top safeties but I don't think it is necessary to sell the farm to try to make a splash during the draft. Sure, the Cowboys have 11 picks, but that in no way means that we need to package a bunch of them up to move way up to get one player. The more players we can draft the better the chances we'll have of getting a few hits although drafting 11 players does seem unrealistic.

With Miles Austin and Sam Hurd both finally locked up on one year deals we can all breathe just a little easier about the depth at wide receiver. I still want to see a guy drafted who can flat out fly down the field. I'm talking about a guy who has 4.2 or 4.3 speed and the ability to return punts. We haven't had a guy like that on this team in a long time. Patrick Crayton doesn't muff many punts but it would be nice to have a real threat returning punts rather than a guy who gets 5-10 yards every return.

I'm excited to see some new talent added to the roster. This weekend will be fun once the wait for the Cowboys to finally pick is over. You never know if one of the guys drafted this weekend will turn out to be one of the all-time greatest Dallas Cowboys.