The Los Angeles Rams made some impressive strides in the 2017 NFL season. Needless to say, their success has been a result of some dramatic changes within the team over the last two years.
Now it seems the Rams could be ready to part ways with yet another product of the previous coaching regime. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Los Angeles will either trade or release wide receiver Tavon Austin before the 2018 NFL season:
Rams will either trade or release WR Tavon Austin before the start of the league year, source says. He’s due $8m, so his time with the team is done.
The move certainly comes as no surprise. Austin has long failed to live up to the lucrative four-year, $42 million contract extension he signed prior to the 2016 campaign. It ultimately culminated into the worst season of his five-year career.
The bar had always been set high for Austin to begin with after the Rams had traded up to take him with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. While the speedster flashed some promise early on as an all-purpose threat, he never quite managed to find his bearings within the new offense.
Austin was non-existent in the passing game as he registered just 13 catches for 47 yards. He did most of his work out of the backfield after taking 59 carries for 270 yards and a touchdown. That said, it seems Austin’s underwhelming tenure with the Rams has come to an end.
