Patriots Lose Austin, Focus on Cornerback Depth

0:00From the Daily News Now Network, this is NFL News Today. Subscribe to keep up with every headline, every game. The New England Patriots are moving fast on their free agency decisions, starting with Cornerback Alex Austin. The 24-year-old restricted free agent won't get a tender offer before next Wednesday's deadline, so he's free to hit the open market. This clears the way for him to explore other options. It was no big surprise though, Austin lost his spot early last season and barely made an impact on defense. Handing him even the lowest tender, worth around $3,520,000, just didn't make sense for his production. That said, nothing's locked in yet. The Patriots could still bring him back on a cheaper deal, maybe near the $1,150,000 minimum for his experience. Level. For now, it's all up in the air. This puts a real focus on their cornerback depth. We've got a strong top trio in the 23-year-old Christian Gonzalez, 29-year-old Carlton

1:00Davis III, and 27-year-old Marcus Jones. But the back-ups like Charles Woods, Kobe Minor, Marcella's dial junior, and Brandon Crossley are still unproven, so expect moves to add competition. This spring, seven more free agents are still waiting on word, including restricted guys like quarterback Tommy DeVito, and exclusive rights players like Fullback, Jack Westover. Those have until March 11th at 3.59 p.m. Eastern time to decide on tenders for them. This DNN story is thanks to our sponsor details in the description. No earbuds, no headbands, no awkward sleeping positions, just a pillow that plays your sound, also L-L-L-I, solelypillow.com.