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Pro Football Focus reached the TE installment in their best/worst NFL contracts by position. Our buddy Jordan Cameron was mentioned, and unfortunately, it was in the "worst" category:
After two solid years as a receiving tight end in Cleveland, the Dolphins signed Cameron to a two-year contract, and the first season of that deal was a flop. Last year, his 0.97 yards per route run mark was the lowest for tight ends with at least 300 routes run. In fact, in each of the last two games of the season, fellow Miami tight end Dion Sims played more snaps than Cameron. Even at his best in 2013, Cameron recorded the second-most receiving yards for tight ends, but part of that was simply volume of targets—his receiving grade was only 15th among his positional peers that season. It doesn’t help his case that he’s graded out as a below-average run-blocker each of the last four seasons.
After his poor performance, he took a pay cut (which saved him from getting released), but his cap hit is still the fourth-highest for tight ends in 2016. If we were just looking at worst contracts in 2016, Cameron would have topped the list, but since the Dolphins are free from his contract after the year, that dropped him to No. 3 on this list.
No TE made an impact on the roster last year, and no TE's are currently under contract going into 2017. This is a HUGE evaluation period for the TE group. In his defense, Jordan Cameron did take a pay cut at the behest of Julius Thomas' advice, as the TE feels poised to earn his contract dollars playing under Adam Gase and deserve another contract.
Whether it was injury on the OL that forced TE's to protect more, or the TE's were horribly misused, or the TE's weren't talented and nothing else mattered, it's safe to say the production from the TE group in 2015 was disheartening.
As it currently stands, Jordan Cameron has a lot of work to earn his contract, but he's also playing for another one - what we see in 2016 will define his career and he's got to know it. Either he produces meagerly and earns meager dollars for the rest of his NFL career, or he establishes himself as a red zone threat and declares himself a real threat. Many players have cashed in on one good year, hell, even one good game - but the court of public opinion is circling around Jordan Cameron and who he really is.
Which Jordan Cameron will we see in 2016?