By Rainer Sabin / Reporter
rsabin@dallasnews.com
IRVING — There was a time not too long ago when Miles Austin was praised as an overachiever. A once undervalued prospect from a small New Jersey university, Austin had swiftly risen from undrafted rookie to Pro Bowl receiver. His story was inspirational and celebrated universally.
But these days Austin is no longer regarded the same way. Even as he is on pace to compile more than 1,000 receiving yards this season, he’s seen by many as an injury-prone talent who has failed to meet expectations.
The perception of Austin began to change soon after the Cowboys gave him a six-year, $54 million contract extension in September 2010. At that time, Austin was a player in full bloom. The season before, he burst on the scene with a performance for the ages.
In an overtime victory against Kansas City, he made 10 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns — one of which was the game-winner.
Dismissing fears he was a flash in the pan, Austin sustained his productivity, finishing the season with 81 receptions for 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns. Austin’s streak of success resulted in a Pro Bowl invitation and persuaded the Cowboys’ team of executives to forge a long-term relationship with the receiver.
By making a significant investment in Austin, the Cowboys hoped they would be richly rewarded. But the large contract they gave him is now seen as an albatross dangling from their necks.
Although Austin made the Pro Bowl again in 2010, he has offered diminished returns since. In 2011, when he missed six games because of hamstring injuries, the seven-year veteran collected only 43 receptions for 579 yards and seven touchdowns. This season, tight end Jason Witten and the mercurial Dez Bryant, who has emerged as the team’s No. 1 wideout, have caught more passes than Austin.
The facts are sobering.
But so is the price the Cowboys paid for their decision to give Austin $17 million in base salary two years ago as part of the extended deal.
That accounting move, designed to exploit the absence of fiscal restraints in the uncapped year of 2010, “created an unacceptable risk to future competitive balance,” the NFL wrote in a statement last March. So the league decided to strip the Cowboys of $10 million in salary-cap space, the sum of which will be split evenly over the next two seasons.
The penalty reduced the Cowboys’ financial flexibility, a damaging outcome for an organization that is still trying to rebuild parts of its roster. With Austin failing to produce at the rate he had in 2009, the cost appears that much more harmful.
This season, Austin has accounted for only 21 percent of the team’s receiving yards as he has struggled to remain in top condition since the summer. Another hamstring injury he suffered in August caused him to miss most of training camp and has nagged him for much of this season.
“Once injuries creep in, there are things that you can’t really control sometimes, but sometimes you can,” Austin said in August before the injury.
Austin was requested for an interview this week but was not available.
“Miles hasn’t been completely healthy for most of this year,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I think he was getting healthier and healthier until the other day.”
The other day, of course, was Thanksgiving, when a strained right hip forced Austin to miss the final three quarters of the Cowboys’ 38-31 loss to Washington.
With Austin out, the Cowboys were forced to rely on two inexperienced replacements, Dwayne Harris and Cole Beasley. Together, they were targeted 20 times by quarterback Tony Romo. The absence of Austin, who returned to practice this week, highlighted the lack of depth in the receiving corps and revealed the risk involved with depending so heavily on a brittle player.
“I think it’s not easy to go 16 games without being banged-up,” Romo said. “I can promise you there’s a lot of guys who have played through a lot of stuff. And Miles, having hurt himself last week, he’s got to play through a little bit of pain. And that’s part of his greatness is his ability to come out and still play at a good level.”
But the Cowboys didn’t pay Austin to be merely good. They gave him a hefty contract extension because they expected him to be great. Since the end of 2010, he hasn’t been. And with Austin set to cost the Cowboys $8.3 million against the cap next year, management will have to decide whether he is still worth the investment.
A player once deemed as undervalued may now be overpriced. Money changes everything, including the perception of Miles Austin.
rsabin@dallasnews.com
IRVING — There was a time not too long ago when Miles Austin was praised as an overachiever. A once undervalued prospect from a small New Jersey university, Austin had swiftly risen from undrafted rookie to Pro Bowl receiver. His story was inspirational and celebrated universally.
But these days Austin is no longer regarded the same way. Even as he is on pace to compile more than 1,000 receiving yards this season, he’s seen by many as an injury-prone talent who has failed to meet expectations.
The perception of Austin began to change soon after the Cowboys gave him a six-year, $54 million contract extension in September 2010. At that time, Austin was a player in full bloom. The season before, he burst on the scene with a performance for the ages.
In an overtime victory against Kansas City, he made 10 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns — one of which was the game-winner.
Dismissing fears he was a flash in the pan, Austin sustained his productivity, finishing the season with 81 receptions for 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns. Austin’s streak of success resulted in a Pro Bowl invitation and persuaded the Cowboys’ team of executives to forge a long-term relationship with the receiver.
By making a significant investment in Austin, the Cowboys hoped they would be richly rewarded. But the large contract they gave him is now seen as an albatross dangling from their necks.
Although Austin made the Pro Bowl again in 2010, he has offered diminished returns since. In 2011, when he missed six games because of hamstring injuries, the seven-year veteran collected only 43 receptions for 579 yards and seven touchdowns. This season, tight end Jason Witten and the mercurial Dez Bryant, who has emerged as the team’s No. 1 wideout, have caught more passes than Austin.
The facts are sobering.
But so is the price the Cowboys paid for their decision to give Austin $17 million in base salary two years ago as part of the extended deal.
That accounting move, designed to exploit the absence of fiscal restraints in the uncapped year of 2010, “created an unacceptable risk to future competitive balance,” the NFL wrote in a statement last March. So the league decided to strip the Cowboys of $10 million in salary-cap space, the sum of which will be split evenly over the next two seasons.
The penalty reduced the Cowboys’ financial flexibility, a damaging outcome for an organization that is still trying to rebuild parts of its roster. With Austin failing to produce at the rate he had in 2009, the cost appears that much more harmful.
This season, Austin has accounted for only 21 percent of the team’s receiving yards as he has struggled to remain in top condition since the summer. Another hamstring injury he suffered in August caused him to miss most of training camp and has nagged him for much of this season.
“Once injuries creep in, there are things that you can’t really control sometimes, but sometimes you can,” Austin said in August before the injury.
Austin was requested for an interview this week but was not available.
“Miles hasn’t been completely healthy for most of this year,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I think he was getting healthier and healthier until the other day.”
The other day, of course, was Thanksgiving, when a strained right hip forced Austin to miss the final three quarters of the Cowboys’ 38-31 loss to Washington.
With Austin out, the Cowboys were forced to rely on two inexperienced replacements, Dwayne Harris and Cole Beasley. Together, they were targeted 20 times by quarterback Tony Romo. The absence of Austin, who returned to practice this week, highlighted the lack of depth in the receiving corps and revealed the risk involved with depending so heavily on a brittle player.
“I think it’s not easy to go 16 games without being banged-up,” Romo said. “I can promise you there’s a lot of guys who have played through a lot of stuff. And Miles, having hurt himself last week, he’s got to play through a little bit of pain. And that’s part of his greatness is his ability to come out and still play at a good level.”
But the Cowboys didn’t pay Austin to be merely good. They gave him a hefty contract extension because they expected him to be great. Since the end of 2010, he hasn’t been. And with Austin set to cost the Cowboys $8.3 million against the cap next year, management will have to decide whether he is still worth the investment.
A player once deemed as undervalued may now be overpriced. Money changes everything, including the perception of Miles Austin.
