Jarvis Landry’s future with Miami is questionable

The Miami Dolphins did not extend Jarvis Landry this off-season and in reality they didn’t need to. Landry won’t be a free agent until next season but his time in Miami may be short.

Over the past week or two Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel has been letting his Twitter followers know that they shouldn’t get to engrossed in the contract extension leaving many to believe that Landry will not be around in 2018. Kelly has made it almost a point of fact in his Tweets.

The subject of Landry’s future is a bit contentious among the fan base. Many will point out the price that Landry is likely to get, somewhere in the $12 million per season range seems logical by most thinking. The problem is that this is a high price for a slot receiver. Even a receiver that has shown so much in his first three seasons.

It’s hard to imagine the Dolphins letting a leader on the field find a way off of it. Landry regularly and consistently stays after practice to work on his skills and that translates to others on the roster. Something however doesn’t seem to line up.

Internally the Dolphins obviously know a lot more than the fans and the media and there very well could be issues with Landry that we don’t know about. His recent run in with an ex-girlfriend couldn’t have helped his cause even if there was nothing much to it.

Perhaps the Dolphins just don’t see the value in Landry or believe that Landry offers a skill set that can be easily replaced. Outside receivers tend to be harder to find while slot guys are supposed to be check down receivers or possession guys. Landry is a focal point of the offensive passing game.

Another issue that could be pressing this halt on Landry’s future is the future of DeVante Parker. The Dolphins love his potential and see him as a receiver that could be on the outside for the next decade but that will require them to extend his contract after the 2018 season if the Dolphins pick up his ’18 option which they likely will.

If Parker has a breakout year in 2017 the Dolphins are going to have contract problems with three receivers making around $10 million per season. Assuming they re-sign Landry. Stills’ contract jumps to $9.7 in 2018.

When the pieces of this puzzle start to make more sense there is real questions surrounding the future of Landry in Miami. While it’s very hard to imagine a player of his caliber leaving the team without compensation, it is possible that Miami will in the end, let him do just that.

Unless the Dolphins decide to trade him before the start of the season or before the trade deadline, we won’t know his future until next year. If he is traded it wouldn’t be the first time. Chris Chambers was traded ahead of the trade deadline to San Diego surprising a lot of fans.

For now, you might want to hold off on buying that Landry jersey until this sorts itself out.