When the Rams play the Broncos on Saturday night, there's a good chance that Tavon Austin is going to be the happiest guy on the field, and that's mainly because he's about to be millions of dollars richer.
The Rams announced on Saturday that they've reached a four-year extension with Austin that will keep him in Los Angeles until 2021. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported that the deal has $25.55 million in guarantees that are payable by March 2017.
The new deal is worth $42 million overall.
As you can imagine, Austin was pretty excited about the deal.
Mood: 😎 pic.twitter.com/yuugDEQ15C
— Tavon Austin (@Tayaustin01) August 26, 2016
The deal can actually get even sweeter for Austin: If he's able to hit several unspecified incentives, then the overall value will shoot up from $42 million to $52 million, according to ESPN.com,.
Those are big numbers for a guy who's never had over 475 yards receiving in any of this three seasons. Although Austin hasn't put up huge numbers during his three years with the Rams, the team does like his potential, which is why they gave him the huge deal.
It's also not completely Austin's fault that he hasn't been able to produce, after all, he has has the likes of Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Sam Bradford throwing him passes since his rookie year in 2013, when the Rams made him the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The team also likes the fact that Austin is a dual-threat. As a receiver in 2015, Austin was actually the team's second leading rusher, finishing with 434 yards. Overall, Austin finished with 907 total yards and nine total touchdowns in 2015.
Austin is also a punt return threat. The speedster has scored at least one touchdown on punt returns in each of this three years in the league.
"Tavon has been an integral part of our offense and special teams since we drafted him in 2013," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said in a statement. "It is important to our organization to retain players we've drafted and invested in, and Tavon is an example of that. We're excited for him to continue his career with the Rams."
The Rams are hoping that Austin, Jared Goff and Todd Gurley will be the nucleus of a high-powered offense for years to come.
Anyway, if Austin plays out his deal, that means he'll be in L.A. until 2021. The 25-year-old has two more years left on his rookie deal, which means his base salary of $2.14 million in 2016 and $12.27 million in 2017 will likely stay the same.
