Jarvis Landry trade is best case scenario at this point

Overnight, news broke that the Miami Dolphins had given Jarvis Landry and his representation permission to seek a trade. The team is also thought to be looking for a partner willing to acquire the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, likely looking for a premium draft pick in return as the minimum compensation.

Landry is expected in the next few days to sign the franchise tag Miami placed upon him, a tag that effectively keeps him with the Dolphins in exchange for a $16-million, one-year contract. Signing the tag would allow Miami to trade Landry.

Earlier this week, the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero reported the Dolphins are likely only going to receive a third-round pick in exchange for Landry, especially with a team having to then sign the receiver to a long-term, lucartive contract. He did say a high second-round pick or a player could enter the negotiations, but the Dolphins are likely to want more for the player with the most career receptions in a player’s first four seasons in the league.

Granting Landry permission to seek a trade is essentially telling him he is not in the team’s plans anymore, despite head coach Adam Gase appearing to lean toward the team bringing back Landry.

“We were trying to figure out the best way,” Gase said this week when asked about Landry. “We knew (what) we were going to do. We weren’t sure when the best timing was for us. We just decided to do it on that first day. We felt like that was the best thing for us to really, for him to know that that’s there. We’ll just kind of see how this plays out.”

When asked if he wants Landry back with Miami this season, Gase replied, “Yeah, if it works out the way that we’ve kind of looked at things. Really that’s why we franchised him. We’ll just kind of see how it goes.”

However it goes, Miami basically has to trade Landry at this point. They could decide no one will meet their demands and they are going to keep Landry, paying him the $16-million tag, but that seems like an awkward situation for everyone. Finding a trade partner, someone who will pay Landry the money he wants while also giving Miami the draft pick(s) they want, is the best case scenario for everyone. Landry will not be a Dolphins player beyond the 2018 season - and he really should not be one beyond the start of free agency at this point.

A trade keeps Landry and the Dolphins happy, even if the fans are disappointed in losing a favorite player.