NFL Free Agency Rumors: Tavon Austin has high interest in playing for the Eagles

Tavon Austin wants to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Crossing Broad’s Kevin Kinkead.

A league source reached out to Crossing Broad a few days after the story went up, explaining that Austin has had contact with the Texans, Steelers, Jets and Ravens. Of those four teams, Austin would prefer to sign with the Texans, but reportedly has high interest in playing for the Eagles. The Birds, however, have not been in contact.

As you can see, however, the Eagles aren’t necessarily so interested in him.

Austin isn’t officially a free agent yet but the Rams are expected to release the No. 8 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Austin never materialized into the player the Rams hoped he would become. In five seasons with St. Louis/Los Angeles, Austin put up 194 receptions for 1,689 yards (a mere 8.7 average) and 12 touchdowns. That’s not great.

His rushing numbers were more efficient: 184 carries for 1,238 yards (6.7 average) and nine touchdowns. The problem is that he also fumbled a whopping 21 times.

Austin has some ability as a punt returner. He’s scored on three of those during his career. Much like his offensive stats, though, the overall numbers aren’t super impressive; he averaged 8.4 yards per return on 158 returns.

The upside to signing Austin is that he’s only about to turn 27 years old and he wouldn’t count against the Eagles’ compensatory pick formula in free agency since L.A. is going to cut him. If former Rams wide receivers coach and current Eagles offensive coordinator Mike Groh advocates taking a flier on him, it could be worth a shot.

If Austin is truly interested in playing for Philly (allure of the Super Bowl champions, reuniting with Groh, moving closer back to his hometown of Baltimore) and not the other way around, then he should be willing to play for very cheap. That’s the only way he makes sense for the Eagles, if at all.