The Dolphins have had two seasons to take care of their most productive and most reliable offensive weapon in Jarvis Landry but instead chose to resign his teammates and give 10 million dollars to a retired “never good enough” quarterback in Jay Cutler this past season. He always never complained, always put the team first, gave 100 percent on the field, and now is likely being shown the door. If Landry does leave Miami, the Dolphins need the replace him – they cannot rely on the unit of just Stills, Parker, Grant, Carroo, and Ford.
So, let’s review the top 5 options Miami should look at if Landry leaves via free agency:
Free Agent Options
1. Danny Amendola – New England Patriots: After Julian Edelman went down in August, Tom Brady made Amendola his go-to guy and proved that Amendola was more than reliable. Amendola finished the year with 87 receptions, 1,007 yards, and 4 touchdowns. The knock on Amendola is his injury history but last year he played 18 games (15 regular season + 3 playoff games), equaling out to 53.4% of the offensive snaps. With Edelman, due to return and Patriots sure to add to their receiving unit, Amendola may be the odd man out so Miami would be wise to poach the veteran from New England for a low cap hit of possibly $5 to $6 million.
2. Paul Richardson – Seattle Seahawks: Seattle is in a pickle right now, their young up and coming wide receiver Richardson is a free agent and they want to resign him but if they do – they may lose out of resigning receiver Tyler Lockett next year so they may have to bite the bullet and let Richardson walk. Richardson is only 26 years old, last season he finished with 44 receptions, 703 yards, and 6 touchdowns. He currently projected to get a contract that should average him around $6 to $7 million.
3. Kendall Wright – Chicago Bears: Former first-round pick out of Baylor for the Titans never lived up to his potential, he played with Tennessee from 2012 to 2016 and then signed with the Bears where it was expected he’d be the team’s third and fourth receiving option but due to injuries to Cameron Meredith, Kevin White, and Markus Wheaton – Wright stepped up. He did not become a superstar or even a star but he became a reliable weapon for rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky out of the slot and even redeemed himself amongst teams around the league. He finished the season with 59 receptions, 614 yards, and 1 touchdown – signing him shouldn’t cost no more than $3 or $4 million in cap.
Draft Options
4. Calvin Ridley – Alabama Crimson Tide: Alabama’s recent history of developing quality starters at receiver in the NFL has been pretty good with the Falcons Julio Jones and the Raiders Amari Cooper – it shouldn’t be any different with Calvin Ridley. Miami will need to pray the Bears and 49ers both pass up on him to have a chance at selecting him at 11 and I believe they will strongly consider it if he’s there, given the fact that Devante Parker has not turn out to be the number one threat the Dolphins wished him to be and he’s due to be resigned next year. Ridley in his final year at school finished with 63 receptions, 967 yards, and 5 touchdowns.
5. D.J. Moore – Maryland: He is projected to be selected on the second day of the draft and that is only because of the talent pool at the receiver position is deep this year. He is an explosive and physical receiver, he has deceptive speed and scored nearly every time he touched the ball for the Terps. He finished this season with 80 receptions, 1,000 yards, and 8 touchdowns. He could end up being a Jarvis Landry clone.
