The Cowboys are trying to lock up restricted free agent receiver Miles Austin to a long-term deal.

From ESPN.com:

On the day DeMarcus Ware signed his six-year deal, executive vice president Stephen Jones expressed hesitation about entering negotiations with Austin. Of course, at the time, Austin had just finished setting an NFL record with 421 receiving yards in his first two starts.

“Some of the biggest mistakes that are ever made are when you pay a guy off one year,” Stephen Jones said then.

One could argue that it’d be a much bigger mistake for the Cowboys to risk losing a humble young star who led the NFC in receiving yardage despite being a reserve for the first five games.

That’s apparently Jerry’s line of thinking at this point.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Austin’s representatives could use Roy E. Williams’ five-year, $45 million deal as the starting point for their negotiations.

Austin proved that he wasn’t an early season fluke when he tore up the second half of the year. The 25-year-old has the size, speed and playmaking ability teams covet in a receiver and there’s no way Dallas can allow another team to outbid them now that he’s a restricted free agent.

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