Further Clarification on Miles Austin

Cowboys restricted free agent wide receiver Miles Austin will visit Florham Park on Friday. The Jets are clearly interested although no formal offer has been made to this point. Dallas has the right to match any contract Austin signs with New York. It is also important to note the Cowboys made him a second round tender offer.

This means if the Jets end up landing Austin, their second round pick goes to the Cowboys. This puts a new perspective on the courtship. It would be one thing for the Jets to land a player with an intriguing skill set at a bargain price to try and develop him. It is another to give up a second rounder on a player with 18 receptions in a 3 year career, even if he is averaging almost 20 yards per grab. This makes any signing of Austin tough to swallow. Keep in mind two years ago New England gave up a fourth round pick for Randy Moss. There were certainly mitigating factors in Moss' behavior, but he also had a Hall of Fame track record.

Forget about the Jets negotiating a trade for a lower price. There would be no reason for Dallas to even listen. The Cowboys could sit, do nothing, and end up with a second round pick. The Jets surely could not justify giving up a contributor for the 18 catch man. The only shot would be Wade Phillips thinking he could make a player out of a guy like say Bryan Thomas, who has little value to the Jets, but that seems unlikely. Jerry Jones does not seem like the type who would want to save money in this recession by taking a package of lower Draft picks than he otherwise would get.

Mike Tannenbaum has pulled some rabbits from his hat in the past. To land Miles Austin in any way that makes sense for the Jets would take a similar feat.