Even with Sammy Watkins, Rams trading Tavon Austin seems unlikely

Despite the Los Angeles Rams trading for Sammy Watkins, it looks like Tavon Austin is still going to stick around.

When comparing his lack of production to the hefty contract the Los Angeles Rams rewarded him last season, there’s been plenty of speculation about whether the team would try trading Tavon Austin before the start of the 2017 NFL season. Even after Friday’s surprise trade with the Buffalo Bills to acquire Sammy Watkins, the trade talks surrounding Austin started to heat up again when looking at the crowded group of receivers the Rams were all of a sudden dealing with.

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Turns out, Los Angeles has plans on keeping Austin around, as Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com reported on Friday how the team has no intention of shopping their speedy wideout. Then again, it’s safe to assume the Rams would have a difficult time finding a trade partner for Austin since a majority of the teams most likely don’t want to take on that ridiculous contract he would bring along with him.

After receiving a hefty four-year, $42 million extension, Austin failed to live up to the hype last year after only recording 509 receiving yards, which is sad when considering that’s currently a career high for the wideout. But with a new offense under Sean McVay, the head coach hopes to be able to take advantage of Austin’s speed to hopefully get the wideout to live up to his potential.

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If not, well, at least Los Angeles finally got a deep threat receiver they’ve desperately been looking for in Watkins, assuming he can stay healthy. Either way, at least there’s plenty of excitement surrounding this new group of Rams receivers after seeing all of the struggles from a year ago.