Examining the Dolphins Options at Wide Receiver
The Dolphins added veterans at just about every position during a very busy offseason, but one exception was wide receiver.
That's likely to change now that Albert Wilson has joined Allen Hurns in opting out, leaving the Dolphins without two of the players who figured in the rotation.
Beyond that, two of the other top wide receivers, Jakeem Grant and Preston Williams, are coming back from injuries that had them finishing the 2019 season on injured reserve.
So now the Dolphins have DeVante Parker, Grant, Williams, Isaiah Ford, Gary Jennings, Mack Hollins and rookie free agents Kirk Merritt and Matt Cole.
It's certainly not unreasonable to expect the Dolphins to add a wide receiver sometime before the regular season begins.
But who?
There certainly are some intriguing names available, names that will have Dolphins fans excited about the possibilities.
One is Antonio Brown, the controversial Miami native and one of the top receivers in the NFL when he was at his best.
Brown, however, will have to serve an eight-game suspension at the start of the 2020 season and he comes with a lot of baggage, so this one just doesn't seem to make sense.
Another highly talented receiver who's has off-the-field issues is Josh Gordon, who still is awaiting for the NFL to reinstate him after his latest suspension last year.
If he can get reinstated soon enough, Gordon might be worth a look because he's still very talented, even though he's seven years removed from his one 1,000-yard receiving season when he was an All-Pro with the Cleveland Browns.
More importantly when it comes to Gordon, he earned positive reviews for his work in Seattle last year and the Seahawks might be interested in bringing him back themselves.
It doesn't necessarily have to be that kind of big name for the Dolphins because now they need depth.
Brice Butler has plenty of experience in the NFL and he played for the Dolphins two years ago before being out of the NFL in 2019. Paul Richardson has battled injuries since signing as a free agent with Washington in 2018, but he had 44 catches for 703 yards for Seattle in 2017.
Other veteran wide receivers still looking for teams as of the afternoon of Aug. 5 included former Rams first-round pick Tavon Austin, Demaryius Thomas, Chris Hogan and Taylor Gabriel.
Oh, and let's throw out one more name, because the wide receiver involved did it himself: Chad Johnson.
He tweeted about finishing what he started and then offered this as a reaction to the news of Wilson opting out:
While it would generate headlines, let's remember that Johnson is 42 years old and he hasn't played a regular season game since 2011.
He was in training camp with the Dolphins in the summer of 2012, but that experiment under the cameras of HBO's "Hard Knocks" ended after his arrest on domestic violence charges.
