Dallas Cowboys: Should the Cowboys pursue Jarvis Landry?

The Dallas Cowboys could be in the market for several new wide receivers and if Jarvis Landry is available, he has to be at the top of their list.

The Miami Dolphins are apparently on the outs with star wide receiver Jarvis Landry. The Dallas Cowboys could use Landry on the roster as they need help at the wide receiver position. Is there a chance that the Cowboys could land Landry via trade/free agency, let’s explore the situation.

Rumors surrounding Landry have been swirling as of late as he is having a pretty ugly breakup with the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins appear to view Landry as not deserving of number one wide receiver money, but realistically there is not another player in the offense that would fit that role.

You would think that a franchise that absolutely needs some stability in their offense would be more wary of displeasing their most productive player, however, the Dolphins front office has not even picked up Landry’s “phone calls” over the past month.

There is little to no question that the Dolphins veteran is the best wide receiver on the roster. Landry knows this and believes he has been very patient in terms of waiting for the Dolphins to put together a competitive team. Every team has this fight with their best wide receiver at some point.

The Dallas Cowboys did with Dez Bryant and unless your name is Antonio Brown, there will likely be rumors that you may not be worth the money a franchise would have to shell out. This situation, however, feels different.

Landry wants to be paid like a top wide receiver (and he should) but the Dolphins question whether or not he is just a glorified slot receiver. Landry holds the record for most receptions for an NFL wide receiver in their first four years in the league.

His numbers are comparable to his college teammate, Odell Beckham except when it comes to touchdowns. Yes, Landry has been lacking in the red zone but there is not a player on the Dolphins roster that would take some coverage away from the speedy wide receiver in the red zone.

DeVante Parker is not a real number one option either, and he is more inconsistent than Landry. The Dolphins veteran should be given a deal on his terms just based off of what he has had to go through with this franchise.

Miami wants him to be more of a leader in the locker room, but give him Cutler at quarterback and forget to invest in their offensive line. Landry is probably the most loyal Dolphin in the locker room as he has been their best and most reliable target without really much of a peep.

There have been questions surrounding his respect levels for the Miami coaching staff in the past, and of course that draws some flags (no pun intended). But he is the veteran player in the Dolphins offense, if he does not agree with a call you may want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

As for the argument that Landry should be doing more in this offense, I say, easier said than done. The quarterback situation in Miami has been atrocious, to say the least, when a semi-retired Jay Cutler is a step up for your offense, something has gone terribly wrong.

People say Ryan Tannehill will fix this, but history has shown that not to be accurate. On the flip side of the coin, Landry wanting a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers to work with is basically every wide receiver’s dream and it is highly unrealistic that most receivers ever work with two bonafide Hall of Famers.

So now the Dolphins are chumming the waters a bit for a possible Landry exit, preparing the fans for what could be the eventuality that the team lets him walk. They are doing this by questioning his character and on-field production but this also has a secondary effect.

It could impact the type of market Landry would have if they publicly denounced the wide receiver and questioned his work ethic. At the end of the day, I don’t think other NFL teams will buy this and any team in the market for a wide receiver would be looking very hard at Landry.

So why does Dallas want this guy? Well take Terrance Williams best game as a pro, subtract 20 to 40 yards, and that is what Landry will give you on a daily basis. He is a sure-handed wide receiver who has a knack for not only making big plays but is a capable kick returner.

Drafting two or three wide receivers during the middle rounds of the draft could further help rejuvenate this receiving corps if cuts had to be made to pay Landry’s massive salary. Landry also had more yards, receptions, and touchdowns in 2017 than the Dallas Cowboys current top wide receiver Dez Bryant.

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He also has had a higher catch percentage than Bryant every season he has been in the NFL except one and the difference is incredibly negligible (66.3% Landry/66.7% Bryant).

That also happened to be the most productive season of Dez’s career, 2012. At this point, it would be the definition of insanity to keep expecting prolific results from the Dallas Cowboy’s current crop of wide receivers.

Adding a big name free agent, who is incredibly versatile would only help this offense grow. As for Landry’s price, I am sure something can be worked out if he ever had an opportunity to get out of Tom Brady’s division.

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The Dallas Cowboys would not only appreciate Landry’s sure hands, he would be an absolute terror next to Bryant and would help number 88 return to a more productive form. Besides, adding free agent wide receivers works, just ask the Philadelphia Eagles.