Pats Pulpit
The third-year cornerback is an exclusive rights free agent this spring.
The New England Patriots have already restructured their coaching staff for the second consecutive offseason. Now it is time for the real work with an expected overhaul of the roster coming.
Free agency will be a key part of this process. And while adding external players to the mix will undoubtably happen with over $125 million in projected cap space, there are also a few in-house free agents to be taken care of. In total, 15 are in need of a new contract prior to free agency.
Among them is cornerback Alex Austin, the first player in our free agency profile series.
Name: Alex Austin
Position: Cornerback
Opening day age: 24 (5/22/2001)
Size: 6’1”, 191 lbs
Jersey number: 28
Free agency status: Exclusive rights free agent (ERFA)
Following his high school career at Long Beach Poly High School, the alma mater of his former Patriots teammates JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jack Jones, Austin played his collegiate career at Oregon State. During his four seasons with the Beavers, he appeared in 36 games and was named honorable-mention All-Pac-12 during each of his final two seasons in Corvallis.
Despite his success, Austin did not hear his name called until the 252nd overall selection in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. His stint with the Buffalo Bills did not last long, however, as he was released in August and claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans before joining the Patriots in November.
In New England, Austin played eight games down the stretch and recorded his first career interception against the Bills. After rejoining the team as an ERFA last year, Austin went on to appear in nine more contests after spending a portion of the year on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
Stats: 9 games (3 starts) | 234 defensive snaps (39.0%), 79 special teams snaps (35%) | 9 tackles, 2 missed tackles (16.7%) | 19 targets, 9 catches (47.4%), 76 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 5 PBU
Season recap: It was a slow start to the season for Austin, who did not play a defensive snap for the Patriots over the first two weeks of the season. Drawing back into the lineup in Week 3 against a larger group of New York Jets receivers, Austin played 14 defensive snaps and was beat for a touchdown where he failed to bring down Allen Lazard.
An ankle injury then resulted in Austin landing on injured reserve where he spent the following eight weeks before being activated ahead of Week 12.
Back in the defensive plans the following week, Austin impressed in his outside corner role as he recorded two pass breakups to pair with some strong plays in coverage. He built off that success to finish strong his second straight year as he tallied a pass breakup in each of his final three games — including a strong performance in an increased role...
