Dolphins to Place Franchise Tag on Jarvis Landry
The Dolphins will place the non-exclusive franchise tag on three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry, preventing him from hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent. Miami's decision was first reported by the Palm Beach Post's Joe Schad and confirmed by SI.com's Albert Breer, and the team announced the move on its official Twitter account.
The worth of the one-year franchise tag will not be finalized until the league's salary cap is set, but if the cap falls at its projected value of $178 million, Landry will make $16.05 million for the upcoming season.
The non-exclusive franchise tag allows Landry to negotiate with other teams. If another franchise signs Landry to an offer sheet, Miami has the right to match the offer, which would guarantee that he returns. If another team extends him an offer sheet and the Dolphins decline to match it, Miami would receive two of that team's first-round picks as compensation.
Landry, 25, had been negotiating a multiyear contract extension with the Dolphins but those talks had not progressed.
A second-round pick out of LSU in the 2014 draft, Landry has excelled as a sure-handed possession receiver in his first four seasons in the league. Landry has the NFL record for most receptions in the first four years of a career with 400—the next closest is Anquan Boldin, with 342—and led the league with 112 catches, to go along with 986 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, in 2017.
He eclipsed the 1,000 receiving yards mark in 2015 and 2016, and the only players to have more receptions since Landry entered the league are Antonio Brown (471) and Julio Jones (411).
Landry had been publicly recruited to the Ravens by Baltimore's Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle, who responded to the news that Landry will be tagged by tweeting "Nooooooooooooooo."
