Could the Miami Dolphins bring back Jarvis Landry?

The Miami Dolphins will be in need of a few fresh offensive weapons for 2022. Could familiar face Jarvis Landry be an option for Mike McDaniel and company?

We are still a few weeks away from having any player movement in the NFL. The league year doesn’t officially kick off until mid-March, but Miami Dolphins fans are already envisioning which guys could be added to Mike McDaniel’s offense. For receivers, the Dolphins will need reliable pass catchers with big play ability, and they may want to take a look at acquiring a familiar face.

Jarvis Landry won over the fans in his four seasons in South Florida. He was passionate, constantly engaged, and was one of the most utilized weapons while he was a part of the Dolphins franchise. His relationship with then-head coach Adam Gase was a rocky one, and eventually led to the wide receiver’s departure via trade back in 2018. His four seasons in Cleveland have been solid, but the best years of Landry’s career came in Miami.

He’d be welcomed back with open arms. It remains to be seen which path McDaniel and his new regime will take in filling the roster out around Tua Tagovailoa, but Landry could very well be an option.

The first task would be his departure from Cleveland. Landry is still under contract for one more season, so a trade would be required if he remains on the Browns roster. But there are rumors that team could move on from player, and the money would make sense. Landry is owed a whopping $14.3 million in 2022, roughly 75 percent of the franchise’s entire wide receiver budget. But the team has an out this off season. Landry’s dead cap hit drops from $15.5 million last year to just $1.5 million, meaning that Cleveland can save themselves quite a lot of money by releasing him while affecting their books minimally.

The Dolphins will certainly be in the market for a wide out. Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker are the only receivers on the active roster that caught a pass in 2021, and the future of the latter is up in the air. Wide receiver will be one of the points of emphasis when it comes to adding talent to the offense, and Miami will have plenty of cap space to do so. They will likely need to sign or draft three different pass catchers in order to fill out the positional needs, but it remains to be seen just how much Landry’s services would cost on the open market. The slot receiver was overpaid for his production over the last few seasons, and he will certainly need to take a pay cut from his previous salary if he does hit the open market.

But taking an $8 million, one-year flier on a guy who is both a fan favorite and can still be a productive part of an up-and-coming offense may be one of the moves that McDaniel decides to make this off season.