Miles Austin visiting Philadelphia Eagles

Chip Kelly continues to look to reshape the Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver corps.

Free agent wide receiver Miles Austin will visit the Philadelphia Eagles this week, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. Patra notes that the Eagles intend to sign Austin if he is able to pass a physical.

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Austin offered a decent level of production for the Cleveland Browns a year ago, catching 47 passes for 586 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games. He missed the final four games of the season with a kidney laceration suffered on a scary hit against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13.

The kidney laceration was more of a freak situation, but other injuries have robbed Austin of a lot of his ability. In particular, he’s been bothered by hamstring problems for the past few years and, at 30 years old, is far removed from the back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons he posted in 2009-2010.

Chip Kelly hasn’t shied away from collecting injury-prone players this offseason, starting with quarterback Sam Bradford. On the surface, this looks like another perplexing or “meh” move from the Eagles, but Austin comes with little risk and could provide reasonable upside.

Austin isn’t beating anyone with speed in his current state, making him more useful as a possession receiver with good hands and route-running. At best, Austin could be considered a No. 3 or third down option at this point.

However, a receiver like that is exactly what the Eagles need, and Austin shouldn’t come with much of a cap hit. Philadelphia’s secondary received the most attention this offseason (and the team poured a lot of money into it), but the wide receiver group is also in desperate need of some help.

With Jeremy Maclin gone, Jordan Matthews likely will take over as the No.1 wide receiver target in Philadelphia. While Matthews looks like a future star, there is nothing behind him.

Riley Cooper was awful last season, to the point where it could be argued Austin is an upgrade over him. Listed next on the depth chart are Josh Huff, Brad Smith and Jeff Maehl, who combined for 14 receptions last year.

Hence the need for a veteran depth piece, exactly what Austin provides. Austin can work as a sort of placeholder in 2014 while the Eagles see what they have in Huff or an early-round draft pick develops.

If anyone can squeeze something big out of Austin at this point, it’s Kelly. The move makes sense for Austin as well, as he will have a much better chance to rejuvenate his career in Philadelphia than in Cleveland, at least numbers wise.

Austin is likely to get hurt at some point this season and could even miss a big chunk of it. The Eagles won’t be counting on him to make-or-break their season either way. That’s going to rest on the health of the person throwing Austin the ball.

Funnily enough, Austin will count $5 million towards the rival Dallas Cowboys’ cap in 2015 after receiving a ridiculous contract in 2010.

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