History Says High Tender Would Keep Teams Miles Away
 

Rob Phillips - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
March 2, 2010 5:31 PM

IRVING, Texas - NFL teams must submit one-year qualifying offers to their restricted free agents by Thursday, the eve of the March 5 start to free agency. The Cowboys have decisions to make this week on 13 restricted free agents, but it's clear one of them, Pro Bowl wide receiver Miles Austin, isn't going anywhere.

Austin did not receive the franchise tag at last week's deadline, a guaranteed one-year, $9.52 million deal that would've required another team to give up two first-round picks as compensation for signing him to a non-matching offer sheet.

It seems likely Austin instead will get the next-tightest measure of security - the one-year, $3.168 million tender - with the Cowboys planning to match any reasonable offer and eventually eyeing a long-term deal for their 25-year-old breakout receiver.

If that happens, the high tender would probably prevent suitors from spoiling exclusive negotiations.

Not many teams in league history have been willing to relinquish a first- and third-round pick for a restricted free agent. Almost none, in fact.

In 1998, Bill Parcells brought restricted running back Curtis Martin with him from the Patriots to the Jets. The Patriots were unwilling to match the Jets' six-year, $36 million offer sheet and took a first- and third-rounder in return.

Eighteen players received the high tender over the next 10 years. None were pried away by a rival's offer sheet.

Only two changed teams, and both left via trade: Matt Schaub (Falcons to Texans) in 2007 and Adewale Ogunleye (Dolphins to Bears). The rest of the group either played out their one-year tender and left as unrestricted free agents after the season, like Michael Turner (Chargers to Falcons) in 2007 and Jon Runyan (Titans to Eagles) in 1999; or they worked out an extension with their current team, like Brian Griese (Broncos) in 2001 and Corey Dillon (Bengals) in 2000.

In 2007, Cowboys running back Marion Barber did not sign his high tender and worked out on his own while both sides worked out a long-term deal. By the start of OTAs in late May, he signed a seven-year, $45 million deal with more than $16 million in guarantees.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones has said publicly that signing Austin to a multi-year deal is important. Potentially complicating negotiations is Austin's small sample size - he has only 12 career starts - as well as the uncertain nature of the collective bargaining agreement. The uncapped rules actually make retaining Austin easier in the short term; now players must have six years' experience to qualify for UFA (Austin has four). And with fewer players in the free agent pool, draft picks are more precious; hence, a team probably would be more reluctant to part with first- and third-round picks.

Jones is confident a deal can be reached with Austin despite the CBA's unclear future.

"Again, that falls somewhere in between our strategies and our plans on how to do stuff for the Cowboys financially," Jones said over the weekend at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "To some degree, there's some ambiguity. But I don't know at the end of the day that you ought not to be able to overcome that and come to an agreement on his contract. You ought to be able to overcome that."

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