Orlando Sentinel

Will Wes Welker return to Miami?

- By Omar Kelly Staff Writer

The Miami Dolphins’ search for a veteran receiver could lead to the return of Wes Welker, who played in Miami for three seasons early in his accomplish­ed NFL career.

Welker, who is searching for a team to play his 12th season with, is visited the Dolphins’ Davie facility Wednesday, but no agreement was reached.

The Dolphins have already hosted former 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree, and former Packers and Vikings receiver Greg Jennings, who visited the facility Tuesday, and now Welker, a slot receiver who became a five-time Pro Bowl selection after leaving the Dolphins.

Welker, who will turn 34 in May, produced 1,000-plus receiving yards over the five seasons he spent with the Patriots and Broncos. But his productivi­ty has recently slowed — Welker caught just 49 passes for 464 yards and scored two TDs last season.

Last season Welker, who led the NFL in receptions three times in his career, caught 76.6 percent of the passes thrown his way by Peyton Manning, and he produced 202 of his yards after the catch.

However, Welker has been plagued with concussion­s recently, and he was forced to sit out two games last season because of injuries. Reports says Welker suffered three concussion­s in a 10-month span last year. But Welker has only missed nine games in 11 seasons, which proves he’s durable.

Adding Welker, who has started 102 NFL games, to the roster would allow the Dolphins to develop Jarvis Landry, the team’s 2014 second-round pick, as a splitend receiver. Landry led the team with 84 receptions for 758 yards and scored five TDs while working primarily as Miami’s slot receiver.

Ryan Tannehill’s proclivity to throw short passes could allow Welker to once again thrive in Miami’s spread offense considerin­g he’s known for producing yards after the catch. Welker could also serve as Miami’s return specialist, sharing the workload with Landry.

The Dolphins, who presently have roughly $12 million in cap space, hope to sign a veteran receiver to a cost-effective one-year deal that wouldn’t prevent them from picking a rookie early in the NFL Draft.

Miami presently has a young stable of receivers, which features Landry, Kenny Stills, whom Miami traded a 2015 third-round pick to acquire from the Saints, and Rishard Matthews, a former seventhrou­nd pick who has caught 64 passes for 734 yards and scored four touchdowns in his previous three seasons.

Jennings, who has a history with head coach Joe Philbin from their Green Bay days together, spent the past two years in Minnesota, where he totaled 127 receptions for 1,546 yards and 10 touchdowns. Last season Jennings, who turns 32 in September, caught 59 passes for 742 yards and scored six touchdowns. The Vikings cut Jennings to avoid paying him the $9 million he was due in 2015 after trading a fifth-round pick to the Dolphins to acquire Mike Wallace last month.

Crabtree, 27, a six-year veteran who was the 10th pick of the 2009 draft, is hoping to regain the form he had in the first four years of his career when he had 260 receptions for 3,345 yards and scored 21 touchdowns.

Crabtree has had two surgeries on his left foot since 2009, and had surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon in May 2013.

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