Exit Meeting: WR Calvin Austin III
Experience: 4 Years
Even Calvin Austin III doesn’t know if the Steelers want him back after Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff exited stage right. After four seasons in Pittsburgh, he is hitting free agency as his contract expires next week. The question is, what is his market, and does some other team think they can better utilize him?
If the Steelers bring back Aaron Rodgers, I don’t know what changes for Calvin Austin. While he caught two game-winning touchdowns from him, he didn’t seem to be Rodgers’ favorite target. It didn’t help that Rodgers’ deep ball wasn’t on point, as was Russell Wilson’s the previous season when Austin had his best season.
It’s possible that a team with a big-armed quarterback that likes to take shots down the field will look at Calvin Austin III and see a big-play threat who hasn’t been able to reach his potential with the Steelers. And his former draft classmate, George Pickens, may just help him with that. Pickens had an All-Pro season after Pittsburgh traded him, popping off statistically.
I can guarantee you Austin’s agent, if he’s any good, is already working on his pitch. It was the Steelers’ system, and the play at quarterback and the offensive line, that held the wide receivers back. After all, Austin played with Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields. Yes, he had a deep-ball connection with Russell Wilson, but that’s one trick. And Aaron Rodgers was too minute to get the most out of Austin, who works better with perhaps a less detailed and cerebral quarterback.
Of course, the Steelers could still have a place for Calvin Austin, but his market will dictate that. I don’t think they could bring him back as anything more than a rotational third option, though. Not as the fixed plan, not after the last two seasons. They clearly need to upgrade, and that could include both the draft and free agency. He is the deep threat. I don’t want to say “and nothing more”, because that downplays the value of a deep threat. Make no mistake, the Steelers need a deep threat. But they also need to know how to utilize Austin better if they bring him back. And I don’t know how compatible that is with Rodgers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves licking their wounds after yetanother early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, but with major change coming. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we willgo down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? The resignation of Mike Tomlin makes those questions much more difficult to answer, but much more important. We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
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