If Jarvis Landry truly is on the NFL trade block as The Ringer’s Michael Lombardi suggests, then look for the Patriots and Chiefs to be at the front of the line in order to acquire the talented 24-year-old wide receiver.
Labor Day weekend in the NFL is sure to be a NBA Fourth of July-style madhouse of transactions as for the first time ever NFL teams will have to cut basically half their roster, going from 90 players to 53 in one day. We’ve already seen one big name leave a team in Joe Haden. The Dolphins obviously aren’t going to cut Landry like the Browns did with Haden, but if he is moved look for it to happen this weekend.
If you missed it, Lombardi (a former NFL executive with the Raiders, Browns and Patriots) tweeted on Sunday: “Said this on my GM Street podcast @RingerPodcasts in May. Miami will listen to offers on Jarvis Landry and seriously listen.”
Lombardi doubled down on the talk the next day: “For all the denials coming out of Miami, I have gotten calls from teams saying my report is 100 percent accurate.”
No media member in the NFL gets more inside info from the tight-lipped Patriots than Lombardi, so it’s curious that he would bring up the Landry stuff for the first time on the same weekend the Patriots lost one of the best receivers in the league in Julian Edelman.
The Patriots would have to give up a lot to land Landry, say a second or third round draft pick and a starting player. The first player that comes to mind for a trade is cornerback Malcolm Butler, who the Pats nearly dealt to the Saints around draft time. Butler has had a brutal preseason as Bill Belichick continues to force-feed the Super Bowl hero humble pie.
The Patriots’ secondary is a strength, but then again – so is wide receiver. Even with the Edelman injury, the Pats still have a top-line receiving corps with Brandin Cooks, Malcolm Mitchell, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and new face Austin Carr.
The good money says that if the Patriots do make a trade this weekend that they will address a weakness like defensive line, not receiver. At the same time, the Patriots aren’t shy about making stunning blockbuster deals (i.e. Aqib Talib, Jamie Collins, Randy Moss). Anything and everything is possible when it comes to Belichick, and we’ve recently seen the team have success with big-name players who more or less amounted to rentals in Martellus Bennett and Darrelle Revis. Both players stayed a year and won a Super Bowl in New England.
Unlike the Patriots, the Chiefs are absolutely desperate for a top-line wide receiver. They are hitching their wagon to second year man Tyreek Hill as their No. 1, but there has been little indication that Hill – the return specialist – is ready for that workload. Hill did not have one 100-yard receiving day last year and in three preseason contests this summer he had just three catches total.
Landry would fit perfectly with quarterback Alex Smith, who thrives when he’s throwing short distances on slants and outs.
Kansas City would have to cough up several high draft picks in a deal for Landry, but as a franchise on the cusp of being a true AFC contender, why not strike now?
The Chiefs could throw in a running back in a deal as they are deep at the position – like Charcandrick West or Kareem Hunt. Then again, the Dolphins are also set at that position with Jay Ajayi leading the charge.
