Miles Austin..The Cowboys..The Poison Pill Clause

Jerry Jones is playing a game of chicken with wide receiver Miles Austin. Austin is a restricted free agent and the Cowboys will put a 1st and 3 rd tender on him. That means if Austin signs with another team the Cowboys have two options.

One they can match any offer. Two they can let him walk and receive that teams 1st and 3rd round draft pick, in this draft. The Cowboys had to put a monetary figure on the tender of a little over three million. Jerry is betting on another team not signing Miles. I ask myself, would Miles Austin be a first round pick if he were in the draft. I feel the answer is an over whelming yes. So to add a 3rd round pick is to me, no big deal.

Well you say, the Cowboys can simply match the offer. Well yes and no. This is where the "Poison Pill" can be written into a contract. The tactic has been used before and has been ruled to be perfectly legal. The event started with Steve Hutchinson who was a RFA with the Seattle Seahawks. Well enter the Minnesota Vikings, they signed Hutchinson to a contract but they inserted a clause. A poison pill clause. It simply stated if Hutchinson plays more than four games in a season, in the state of Washington, Steve would have to be the highest paid player in the league. The Seahawks went nuts, filed a grievance and as I stated before, they lost.

Could some team, willing to give up a 1st and a 3rd sign Miles and insert this clause. I think a guy like Daniel Snyder, owner of the Redskins, would love to stick it to the Cowboys. He would set up a win win situation and the Cowboys would be left to scramble.