Cowboys Prepared To Move On Without WR Miles Austin?

During Sunday’s mailbag, ESPN’s Todd Archer mentioned that “all the sounds coming from Valley Ranch” indicate that the the Cowboys would like to move on without WR Miles Austin.

Archer adds if Austin was willing to reduce his salary, there is a chance he could be back in Dallas next season, but Archer still expects the Cowboys to draft a receiver or target a low-paid veteran in free agency.

Archer specifically mentions that Saints WR Robert Meachem could be a potential target in free agency.

The Cowboys cap situation has been well documented here over the past few months, and nothing has changed in this regard. Dallas is still projected to be over the cap by $24 million, so there is no question that they will have to make a number of roster moves in the next few weeks in order to get down to the salary cap figure.

The Cowboys could free up $5.5 million in space by designating Austin as a post-June 1 release. That would, however, carry over $5 million in dead money to 2015.

Other cap moves to keep an eye on are restructured contracts for QB Tony Romo, MLB Sean Lee, and CB Brandon Carr which should free up over $18 million in cap space. There has also been some speculation that DE DeMarcus Ware could be released, but seems likely that Dallas would consider reworking his deal too.