Los Angeles Rams: 5 storylines to follow before 2018 NFL Draft

5. Will Austin finally step up in 2018?

Early in the offseason, the Rams made it seem like the plan was to accept the financial loss by parting ways with Tavon Austin through a release or trade, although the chances of another team taking on that ridiculous contract seemed highly unlikely. Rewarding Austin with a $42 million extension before the start of the 2016 season was one of the worst decisions Los Angeles could have made when looking at his lack of production, but it appears Sean McVay and company are willing to give the former first rounder another chance.

Instead of releasing Austin, the Rams were able to convince the speedster to restructure his contract, which kind of worked out in a way since they would have been forced to pay the money regardless. When looking at how quickly McVay was able to transform this offense into a serious threat during his first year as head coach, Los Angeles had every reason in the world to feel frustrated towards Austin catching just 13 passes all of last season, even if he received some benefit of the doubt for dealing with a few injuries leading up to Week 1.

By agreeing to give Austin another shot along with the recent acquisition of Cooks, this most likely means the Rams won’t turn to a receiver in a draft. With this in mean, there’s even more pressure on Austin to come through in 2018, or Los Angeles may end up regretting their decision to bring him back for another year.