The Miami Dolphins may look to trade Mike Wallace or Brandon Gibson this offseason after drafting wide receiver Jarvis Landry and teams like the Oakland Raiders, NY Jets, Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings or Kansas City Chiefs could be in the mix if the Fins pull the trigger, as the team has not been satisfied with the production of Wallace after signing a big contract last season.
The Dolphins came into the draft with some important needs on offense and wide receiver was one of them after Wallace put up so-so numbers after signing a $50 million contract last offseason. General manager Dennis Hickey said during the draft that the team was not looking to trade Wallace, but reports from earlier in the offseason confirmed that the team was shopping the wideout at various points and even if a deal doesn't go down this year, it could happen in the future. Last season Wallace had 73 catches for just 930 yards and that came after some very productive years with the Steelers and now he has expectations to live up to.
According to Pro Football Talk, the Dolphins may look to trade Wallace at some point in the future because of the high amount of money on his deal and the report also mentioned that the contract was signed by Jeff Ireland and not Dennis Hickey. The Dolphins have some major issues on offense after last season and they have started to improve the offensive line and the rushing game and after drafting Landry, the team feels that Ryan Tannehill is now starting to get some weapons together. While trading Wallace obviously would contradict that point, Hickey knows that the money spent on Wallace could be spread around more productively after the way he performed and complained publically last year.
The team has some solid depth at wide receiver, so moving Gibson or Wallace wouldn't hurt that much, as Rishard Matthews showed some skills last season, while Brian Hartline showed he can be a number one receiver with 76 catches for over 1,000 yards. Hartline was first on the team in receiving over Wallace and while this trade may not go down, it is something that the Dolphins looked into this offseason and if Wallace has another down season next year, he could be on his way out of town.
Last season the Dolphins scored just seven points over the final two weeks of the season and that came as the team was pushing to make the playoffs as one of the wild card teams in the AFC. The team needs to play more consistently on offense and adding Landry will help that, as he is a great route runner with clean hands and he was very productive alongside Odell Beckham at LSU. Both players were over 1,000 yards last season and Landry could be an explosive weapon after making 77 catches for nearly 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Dolphins missed the playoffs last season, but after firing Ireland and supporting Joe Philbin, the team thinks it has the right plan to build for the future.
