NFL trade rumor: Are the Patriots looking to acquire Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry?

The New England Patriots have a small need at wide receiver with Chris Hogan battling a shoulder injury and Danny Amendola fighting a knee injury, so there’s a curious rumor floating around Twitter ahead of today’s trade deadline at 4:00 PM ET.

What about acquiring Dolphins slot receiver Jarvis Landry?

According to the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero, “Jarvis Landry is available for the right compensation. Not giving him away though,” while the Sun-Sentinel’s Omar Kelly warns people not to assume “the Dolphins and Jarvis Landry are happily married.” Kelly also notes that two teams calling for Landry “are in Miami’s division.”

So does that mean the Patriots are interested? Possibly. The Jets just lost slot receiver Jeremy Kerley to a suspension for PEDs and would make sense as a suitor. The Bills don’t make as much sense with Jordan Matthews and Zay Jones already locked in as the receivers of the future. So I think the Patriots make a little more sense than Buffalo.

The Dolphins aren’t rushing to sign Landry to a contract extension and could look for immediate draft compensation instead of settling for a compensatory draft pick, just like how the Patriots approached trades with Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins, and Jimmy Garoppolo.

Add in a curious Instagram post from Landry stating, “Sometimes it’s not just about where you been.. It’s where your [sic] headed to,” and there real reason to think that Landry could be on the move, despite the team telling Landry they were not trading him according to ESPN’s Josina Anderson.

Landry has 50 catches for 398 yards and 3 touchdowns this year and his 8.0 yards per catch is the lowest of his career. He’s been stuck with a pair of low quality quarterbacks in Jay Cutler and Matt Moore after averaging 1,212 yards from scrimmage in 2015 and 2016.

The Dolphins signed Kenny Stills to a big contract and there is reason to believe they favor DeVante Parker for his downfield and sideline ability over Landry in the slot when it comes to reaching an extension. Landry could be better utilized on numerous other teams, too.

Will the Patriots be the team able to pry Landry away from the Dolphins? New England would have to be prepared to sign Landry to a long term contract after this season, but would provide Tom Brady with a young (Landry turns 25 years old on November 28th) and productive slot receiver that hasn’t missed a game in four NFL seasons.

The Dolphins just traded away running back Jay Ajayi, so perhaps the Patriots could trade one of their four running backs for Landry. Or maybe the Patriots could benefit from their new 49ers draft pick to acquire Landry- not saying use the pick for Landry in a swap, but now the Patriots have options.

I don’t think it would happen- that would be ridiculous for the Dolphins to send slot receiver Jarvis Landry to the Patriots a decade after they sent slot receiver Wes Welker to the Patriots- but it’s nice to dream.

How would you feel if the Patriots made this trade?

[UPDATE 3:17 p.m.] The Dolphins will apparently not trade Jarvis Landry today: