The Bills picked up Tavon Austin midway through the offseason, but the former top-10 pick has not seen any game action. As a result, the sides are parting ways.
Austin is no longer on Buffalo’s practice squad, according to WGR 550’s Sal Capaccio (on Twitter). This is a mutual parting, per Capaccio, aimed at Austin finding a better opportunity elsewhere. A team could have plucked the former Rams investment off the Bills’ P-squad, but Austin would not have been free to choose another destination this way.
This Austin news comes after the Bills have sustained injuries at the receiver position. Jamison Crowder suffered a fractured ankle, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, and Isaiah McKenzie went down with a concussion during Buffalo’s Week 4 game in Baltimore. It does not sound like the Bills were planning to make Austin part of their solution, despite the veteran’s past as a slot/gadget player. Behind the Stefon Diggs–Gabriel Davis duo, the Bills roster rookie Khalil Shakir and Jake Kumerow. Should McKenzie be unable to go against the Steelers, the Bills will need to make at least one addition to their receiving corps.
Austin, 32, never ended up justifying the investment the Rams made in him, though the diminutive playmaker had moments during his time in St. Louis and Los Angeles. The Jaguars ended up using Austin as a rotational receiver during points last season. He caught 24 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown for the 3-14 team. The West Virginia product played a bit part as a Cowboys receiver in each of the previous two years.
The Bills are expected to replace Austin on their 16-man P-squad with Jaquarii Roberson, Garafolo adds (on Twitter). The Steelers cut Roberson, a Wake Forest product, from their taxi squad on Tuesday.
How this man has continued to stay on rosters is a great mystery.
For as awful a draft bust as he was as the 8th overall pick, he hasn’t been a terrible bit player these last few years. A back of the rotation receiver who contributes on special teams while making peanuts. There are worse depth guys to bounce around the back of rosters.
I’m not seeing the same thing. Austin has been pretty bad. He hasn’t had 225 yards receiving in five years. He doesn’t return kickoffs and his punt returning has been pedestrian. There’s a reason he goes from team to team to team.
He’s also had a whopping three starts in that time, all of which were for last year’s tire fire of a Jags team. The three years before that, he played a double digit percentage of his teams’ special teams snaps. I’m certainly not saying he’s any great shakes, but when a team needs a depth body to round out the roster in week 10 because of injuries, there are worse guys to pay the minimum.
Bucs? He can be useful underneath. I would love to have him in Denver