Jarvis Landry not worth trading for
The Miami Dolphins are trying to play the Jarvis Landry situation to the hilt, and if any team bites on that ploy, shame on them.
On Feb. 16, the first day a team can designate its franchise player, the Dolphins did exactly that with Landry. General manager Chris Grier placed the tag on his 25-year-old wide receiver, ensuring control over his talents for at least one more year. Of course, the plan was always to trade Landry. Instead of letting him walk in free agency on March 14, Miami figured it could tag and trade, a rare move in the NFL.
However, the other 31 clubs are well aware of the rouse, and should also be well aware that the Dolphins are going to release him at some point if a trade can’t be worked out.
For the acquiring team, the reason to make the trade is simple. Instead of having to compete with a dozen other teams on the open market, you lose a mid-round pick but have his rights exclusively. That way, the new squad can negotiate with Landry until July 15 if need-be, although one would imagine that a long-term deal would come much sooner than that.
So why not make the trade? Well, for starters, the Dolphins are going to keep lowering the asking price as we near the new league year. After trading for Robert Quinn on Friday, the Dolphins are now projected to be $20 million over the cap. With Landry on the tag, Miami would either need to make a bevy of smaller moves to get under the threshold, or simply trade Landry away along with his $16.2 million figure. It’s obvious which would be the easier move.
Additionally, with Landry having signed his tag, a trade can happen at any time. It can’t be made official under March 14 at 4 p.m. ET (when the league year turns over), but that’s good enough to get under the cap and not prohibit the Dolphins in making other moves in free agency.
While Landry is a good player, he’s not a great one. He has a pair of 1,000-yard seasons and while he led the league in receptions last year, didn’t crack the 1,000-yard barrier. One could make an argument that signing Landry to a top-end monetary figure is risky enough, let alone to give up a valuable draft pick in the process.
The former LSU star is a very good player, but he’s not a game-changer in the way that Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Odell Beckham Jr. or Tyreek Hill is. Spending that kind of financial and draft capital is a fool’s game, especially when there are other receivers — Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson, Paul Richardson — who are substantially better values.
