The Jets' courtship of Cowboys WR Miles Austin is "dead,"

[Frozen700]

hell yea!

 

[DaBoys4Life]

**** we almost had them.

 

[chinch]

good news, late 2nd round (probable bust or bench warmer) is less useful than Austin.

he's a good kid, can make plays, is explosive and without TO can have more use on this popgun offense (even with bad coaching/OC) at a reasonable cost.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

No huge surprise here that they decided not to. I would have been really surprised, pleasantly so, if they would have been willing to part ways with a 2nd for a guy with 18 catches in his career and almost as many games missed with injuries as those 18 catches.

 

[Hoofbite]

I love how there is a group of posters who will stomp out any positive analysis of Austin because "he's unproven" or "hasn't done enough" or whatever other reason they want to slide in there and then turn around and give an extensive negative analysis.

They crap all over any positive take on the guy because nobody knows but at a moment's notice can pull out the book on all the things the guy can't do or doesn't do well.

Pretty funny how that works.

Oh, and haven't we worn out the "18 catches" line yet? I'm a big Austin supporter, have been for a long while and I will gladly admit that trading an 18 catch guy for a 2nd rounder is a GREAT deal IF that is all that WR will ever be. I'd say its pretty safe to assume he's gonna be more than that this year. Just a guess.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I don't hate Austin. I like the guy. he's seems like a hard worker, tries hard, and wants to improve. I'm hopeful that he'll be more than what he's been thus far but, to this point, I don't think it's safe to assume that he'll be anything more than he has been.

He has proven that yes he has speed and yes he could possibly be a big play guy. I have no trouble admitting that those things are true and could possibly be more true this year.

I also have no trouble admitting that to this point the only thing he's consistently proven is that #1 he'll be injured for a few games during the season and #2 that he can't consistently beat out a healthy Crayton or Sam Hurd for playing time.

I'm hopeful that he'll prove people wrong and have a fantastic year. That would thrill me to no end.

I just wouldn't have been at all upset with getting a 2nd for the guy and his potential.


Edit: Also it really makes me smile that a poster is already growing tired of the 18 catches thing yet has no trouble having a signature picture mocking the turnovers of Tony Romo which is repeated, and discussed, far more often than Austin and his 18 career catches has been, or ever will be. That's hilarious.

 

[Hoofbite]

Edit: Also it really makes me smile that a poster is already growing tired of the 18 catches thing yet has no trouble having a signature picture mocking the turnovers of Tony Romo which is repeated, and discussed, far more often than Austin and his 18 career catches has been, or ever will be. That's hilarious.

Hilarious how?

My growing tired of hearing the 18 catch BS has to do with how ridiculous I think it is, not the fact that it is being said frequently. Well, I suppose the frequency of a ridiculous comment is a little agitating but its more the comment itself than its frequency.

Its just ridiculous IMO because its obvious as all hell as to why he has 18 catches. He's been a work in progress. Its as if people expected more from the guy and he somehow let them all down. He was undrafted, spent the 1st year returning kicks, got a few looks at WR his second year with the majority coming when TO was hurt and then got a few more looks his 3rd year.

Of course he has had limited production. He's been a project who has had limited opportunities. However, in those opportunities he has shown the ability to get behind defenses but he has also shown why he's a project with the drops he has had.

Its almost painfully obvious. And yet people still throw that out there like its a huge trump card. Like its the end-all to any discussion about the guy. Not another word, just "18 catches". And really, its not a trump card at all because anyone with a memory would realize why he has limited production.

Thats why I've grown tired of the "18 catches" line. It's just not the holy grail that some treat it as. Some people are just summing the guy up by it like that is all he will ever be and I think that is just foolish.


And my mocking Tony is centered around that fact that this team would be much better if he would quit giving the ball away. I don't do it because I think the guy sucks, I do it because I know he's good and know he would be GREAT if he could learn to protect the ball.

 

[Verdict]

Oddly enough, I think the reason the Jets declined to offer Austin has been overlooked. I think the Jets wanted Austin, and decided they wanted to extend him an offer, but they discussed it with the Cowboys and found out they would match the offer, so they didn't make the Cowboys bid against themselves.

If you think back, when Sean Payton left the Cowboys, he tried to steal players away from the Cowboys, and Parcells took him aside and said (paraphrasing) look, son, its Ok to steal Cowboys players, but there is a right way to do it. You made an offer to our player, then we matched the offer, so essentially you cost US money by making the offer, and didn't accomplish anything on your end. The only person who won here was the player.

The protocol in this case might be different since the Jets coach wasn't stealing a player from his prior team, but this might explain the Jets' failure to OFFER Austin.