Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Reward Landry
Omar Kelly: Standout deserves contract.
Sometimes it shouldn’t always be about the money spent, but the message sent.
That should be the Miami Dolphins’ thought process when it comes to rewarding one of the hardest workers on the team, the tone-setter and the face of the franchise.
Jarvis Landry, who just made his second consecutive Pro Bowl courtesy of a 94-catch, 1,136-yard season, needs a new contract. And the former LSU standout shouldn’t step foot inside the team’s facility until he gets one.
The next time Landry visits the Dolphins’ Davie facility it should be to sign his new contract, which should pay him like he’s a top-10 NFL receiver.
Several teams have re-upped their top receivers a year before their contract expires, and that’s the approach the Dolphins need to take with Landry, who is slated to earn a little under $900,000 in the final season of a four-year, $3.5 million rookie deal he signed as a 2014 second-round pick.
“Business is business” is the term franchises use when they shake down proven veterans who they feel should take pay cuts. Well, players need to take the same approach when it comes to ensuring they’re paid accordingly for their production.
If a team doesn’t respect a player enough to compensate him fairly for his contributions, they shouldn’t participate in the team’s supervised weightlifting and unnecessary field work during the offseason.
NFL rules prevent draft picks and teams from renegotiating their deals until the start of their fourth season, so Landry couldn’t do anything about the fact he was drastically underpaid until this March.
Before doling out money to free agents, the Dolphins should take care of Landry, because the locker room is watching.
“To have sustainability, we want to take care of our own ... locker room,” Mike
Tannenbaum, the Dolphins’ vice president of football operations said last week.
“Adam [Gase] always likes to roll his eyes, but I always say our plan is firmly etched in pencil. Because things are going to change,” Tannenbaum continued. “We’re going to acquire players. There are going to be unexpected opportunities. ... What does the draft look like? What does free agency look like? But with that said, we’re going to try to lean heavily towards keeping our own and building our program here.”
That means making sure Landry is taken care of, which will likely require a commitment of more than $24 million in guaranteed money, the only money that counts when it comes to NFL contracts.
Coming up with a fair price for Landry won’t be easy.
Paying Landry, an elite slot receiver, like he’s a top-five receiver would be irresponsible, considering he’s not a game-changer like Cincinnati’s A.J. Green, Atlanta’s Julio Jones, Denver’s Demaryius Thomas or Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown. Landry doesn’t demand double coverage on every snap, and he’s produced just 13 offensive touchdowns in his three seasons.
The Dolphins should use the deals Seattle made with Doug Baldwin (four years, $46 million), Indianapolis with T.Y. Hilton ($28 million over the first three years) and the the Chargers with Keenan Allen ($21.65 million over the first two years) as their framework.
Making a respectable offer that puts Landry in that pay range is critical, but Miami shouldn’t force the issue because it could easily use the franchise tag on Landry in 2018, preventing him from becoming an unrestricted free agent by committing roughly $14 million to him in a one-year deal. However, that approach might expose safety Reshad Jones to the open market in a year unless he also gets a new deal this offseason.
The first step to being a good organization is to do right by your own, and the Dolphins will have a great opportunity to undo some of the damage done last offseason when they letOlivier Vernon, Lamar Miller and Rishard Matthews depart in free agency.
The last thing any Dolphins fan should want to see is Landry follow those three talented players out the door.