Opinion: Dolphins Should Not Extend Landry In 2017
- The Dolphins‘ best bet may be to simply let Jarvis Landry play out the 2017 season, his contract year, and put the franchise tag on him in 2018, as Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders opines. After all, Landry is set to make less than $1MM this year, so even the projected $17MM tag in 2018 would allow Miami to keep Landry for at least two more seasons at about $8.5MM per year, which is well below the $14MM per year he would likely get with a new contract. Although that approach could create some discord between player and team, it does make short-term financial sense.
Revisiting Brent Grimes' Release
The Dolphins released cornerback Brent Grimes in March 2016, which his wife, Miko Grimes, took credit for at the time and again in an interview this week with Jack Dickey of SI.com. “People say I got him cut with my mouth,” said Miko Grimes. “Duh! That was the goal!” While Miko Grimes has taken to Twitter in the past to make anti-Semitic comments about Dolphins brass and attack quarterback Ryan Tannehill, her obnoxious behavior did not spur Brent Grimes’ release, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Rather, the Dolphins cut the now-Buccaneer “because of his size, his age, and the magnitude of his contract,” writes Florio, who adds that they first tried to trade him.
Dolphins Haven’t Made Offer To Jarvis Landry
Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry won’t be willing to discuss a contract extension once the season begins, yet the team still isn’t working to lock him up. The Dolphins haven’t made Landry an offer, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, though he notes there’s enough time between now and Week 1 for that to change.
Miami entered the offseason with the goal of extending Landry, so it’s fair to surmise that the club will make an earnest effort to get something done with the 24-year-old over the next two months. Landry made an emphatic case for a lucrative extension from 2014-16 by amassing 288 catches, the most ever for a player in his first three seasons, and 13 touchdowns. As a result, the 6-foot, 205-pound slot target is likely in line for a deal worth upward of eight figures per annum, which would be an enormous raise for a player set to make just under $894K this season.
Given that the franchise tag for receivers will cost north of $15.6MM next offseason, it would behoove the Dolphins to work out an extension with Landry over the next several weeks. Otherwise, they could be at risk of losing the leader of the enviable Landry-Kenny Stills–DeVante Parker wideout trio at season’s end. The club already prevented Stills from leaving via free agency back in March, when it handed him a four-year, $32MM contract, including $20MM in guarantees. Stills, 25, received that deal off a 42-catch, 726-yard, nine-touchdown season, while Landry put up 94-1,136-four in 2016.
Dolphins' Jarvis Landry Wants To Stay
Jarvis Landry is entering his contract year, but he says he wants to stay with the Dolphins for the long haul. At the same time, he confirmed that he is setting a deadline for the two sides to agree to an extension.
Make-Or-Break Year: Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Tannehill may be working with the most talented offensive weapons he’s ever had at his disposal in 2017, and if he wants to remain under center for the Dolphins for the long haul, he will have to make the most of those weapons. Yesterday, we looked at a discussion among ESPN’s AFC East contingent as to whether Miami should stick with Tannehill or start looking for his replacement, and while the consensus is that Tannehill is a solid quarterback whose contract looks more and more like a bargain with each passing year, the ESPN scribes do not appear to have much faith that Tannehill can bring a title to South Beach. Indeed, ESPN’s Bills reporter, Mike Rodak, believes the Dolphins need to begin preparing for their next quarterback now.
And it’s hard to blame him. It took Tannehill five seasons to post a winning record, and his skill-set and statistical output to this point in his career reasonably invoke the old adage that is trotted out for quarterbacks like Jay Cutler and Alex Smith: just good enough to lose.
Of course, Tannehill is not solely responsible for the Dolphins’ mediocre record during his tenure. After all, it’s not as though the team has been stocked with talent that was held back by substandard quarterback play. Rather, the roster has been average at best and Tannehill, whose performance has been average to a little above-average, has not been able to enhance it. But as the talent surrounding him slowly improves, it is fair to question whether Tannehill has enough ability to turn his team into a true championship contender.
What makes a conversation about Tannehill’s long-term future with Miami particularly interesting now is the way his contract is structured. After 2017, the only guaranteed money on Tannehill’s deal is $5.525MM of his 2018 salary that is currently guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2018 league year. That means that, if they really want to, the Dolphins could part ways with Tannehill after this season and the dead cap hit would be fairly minimal while the savings would be significant.
The problem is that Miami does not have a young quarterback on the roster that is pushing for playing time, and free agency is almost never an answer when it comes to quarterbacks. The 2018 rookie class may boast a fair amount of quarterback talent, so if Tannehill struggles in 2017, it would behoove the team to draft a signal-caller in the early rounds of next year’s draft and groom him behind Tannehill for a year or so (Tannehill is under club control through 2020).
So while it would be a surprise to see Tannehill somewhere other than Miami in 2018, the 2017 season will go a long way towards determining his future prospects with the Dolphins.
Walker: Dolphins Offense Still Has Depth Problems
Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill believes the team’s 2017 offense will be the best he has ever played with, and James Walker of ESPN.com agrees with him. On paper, Miami does boast a great deal of talent at the skill positions, but as Walker observes, the Dolphins still have some depth problems. Jay Ajayi was a revelation in 2016, but what happens if he should go down with an injury, or if he needs to be spelled from time to time as the season progresses? Could Kenyan Drake or Damien Williams step up? And can Leonte Carroo be counted on to complement Kenny Stills, Jarvis Landry, and DeVante Parker, or even carry the load if one of those players should get hurt? Will Mike Pouncey stay healthy for a full season. Of course, every team can ask itself similar questions, but for the Dolphins’ offense to take a step forward this year, it will need to stay healthy or else get contributions from unlikely sources.
Should Dolphins Pursue Darrelle Revis?
- ESPN had a similar discussion with the sites AFC East reporters, asking whether the Dolphins should stick with Ryan Tannehill or look for a replacement. The general consensus is that it’s worth giving the quarterback at least one more season, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the organization to begin looking for a successor. Mike Rodak suggests that the Dolphins should pursue a rookie signal-caller in next year’s draft, while Rich Cimini says the organization should be eyeing any acquisition that could make them better long-term.
- Could Darrelle Revis land with the Dolphins? Florida Football Insiders thinks so, as they cite the team’s efforts to improve via free agency and the veteran cornerback’s familiarity with the division. The writer believes Revis would be an upgrade over players like Byron Maxwell, Tony Lippett, Xavien Howard, and while his age is a concern, he should be a more-than-capable one-year stopgap. Earlier this week, our own Zach Links asked if Revis would even play in 2017, with around 54-percent of you answering “yes.”
[SOURCE LINK]
Dolphins Notes: Taylor, DBs
- The Dolphins are considering sixth round pick Vincent Taylor as an option for the No. 3 defensive tackle role, but there are doubts about whether he is ready for such responsibilities. “I think [fifth-round pick Davon] Godchaux will be a solid rotational guy. But I thought Taylor stunk,” one AFC executive tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “I gave him a free agent grade. Stiff as hell. Just wasn’t that good a player.” Jackson continues to indicate that the No. 3 DT spot is a problem area for Miami, though they have yet to make a play for any of the available veterans at the position. If they can’t find a clear winner among journeyman Nick Williams, Lawrence Okoye, Godchaux, or Taylor, they might rethink that stance.
- Beyond receiver, the Dolphins‘ best bottom of the roster competition is at defensive back, Jackson writes. Walt Aikens, who can play both safety and corner, is the frontrunner for a spot. After him, there’s Jordan Lucas, undrafted rookie Maurice Smith, Lafayette Pitts, and A.J. Hendy competing for either one job or two jobs. It will be two jobs up for grabs if the Dolphins opt for ten defensive backs in total during T.J. McDonald’s eight-game suspension.
AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Alonso, Jets, Davis
Can the Patriots be stopped by any team in the AFC this year? Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh certainly thinks so.
“I think the Patriots are definitely beatable,” Suh told ESPN (video link). “It’s just a matter of playing a good game, almost a perfect game in a lot of ways because they’ve got great coaching and obviously great players and talent on their side of the ball. So you’ve got to be going on all cylinders. Without question, I have a ton of respect for them, but without question, they’re definitely beatable as everybody is in the league.”
While you mull the mortality of the Patriots, here’s a look at the AFC East:
- The Dolphins have yet to tell any of their linebackers where they will be playing in 2017, but one team source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that the most logical option is having Lawrence Timmons in the middle with Kiko Alonso at weakside. In the past, Alonso has been reluctant to move from inside linebacker, but it appears that he is going to have to make the shift in order to suit the offseason addition of Timmons. Alonso indicated back in March that he would be a good sport about switching positions for the former Steeler. He was probably a bit more amenable to the idea after inking a three-year extension worth up to $29MM.
- If Demario Davis is going to be a contributor for the Jets in his second go ’round with the team, he’ll have to do better in coverage, Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. Davis was always a good run stuffer for Gang Green, but teams routinely targeted him on wheel routes and gained yards at his expense. The Jets reacquired Davis in a June swap that saw Calvin Pryor go to the Browns. Many thought that Davis would be dropped from the roster, but he should be able to stick around after agreeing to a pay cut. The release of David Harris also created a need for the team at middle linebacker.
- Former Dolphins tight end Evan Rodriguez is hoping that his performance in the American Flag Football League last week will help him catch the attention of NFL teams. “I feel like this gave people a different view of me,” the former second round pick told Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. “I know I was a big guy that coaches wanted to use as a physical guy with my size, and this flag football league let me take advantage of my size and show my athleticism for a big guy.” Rodriguez, who was drafted by the Bears in 2012, also had stints with the Bills and Buccaneers. He has not seen live NFL action since 2014 and he has not been on a roster since the Bucs cut him prior to the 2015 season.
ESPNers Like Gase/Dolphins Setup For Long Haul
- The AFC East saw a recent first-year coach’s season that could turn out to be an aberration, with Todd Bowles‘ 10-6 debut preceding a dismal second season and a house-cleaning of most of the Jets’ veterans. But Adam Gase has ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss, Rich Cimini and Mike Rodak more convinced he will be the Dolphins‘ coach for the long haul. The Dolphins made the playoffs for the first time in eight years last season. Reiss and Cimini came away from Gase’s rookie HC season impressed with the culture he’s building.