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Miami Dolphins search for vet WR now a shot in the dark

The Miami Dolphins search for a veteran wide receiver is not over.

After Michael Crabtree, Greg Jennings and Wes Welker came and went on free agent visits the past three weeks, the team has not yet landed the player it wants for a, well, evolving role that it is offering.

So it only makes sense for that search to continue, no?

Why haven't the Dolphins visited with Reggie Wayne?

Why not Hakim Nicks?

Lance Moore?

How about Robert Meachem in a grand scheme to visit or trade for every former New Orleans Saints receiver on the market?

Look, the Dolphins are not getting an elite player now. Crabtree is considered to be the best of the bunch based on his age and prior production. But he views himself a No. 1 wide receiver worthy of No. 1 wide receiver money.

That's perhaps $5-$6 million annual average salary with multiple years of guaranteed money at this point. The Dolphins don't see it that way. They see him as a $2-$4 million annual average salary guy with perhaps one year of guaranteed money.

All the other names you've read in the previous paragraphs?

Regardless of what you think of their history, the best (Jennings) is no more than a $2 million a year guy and the others -- Welker, Wayne, Moore, Meachem -- might deserve minimum salary one-year deals with incentive packages in case they unexpectedly play a big role.

This should help you see why no one is rushing to sign. And why the Dolphins have not rushed to sign anyone.

Nicks is interesting. He's 27 years old. He is not as fast as he used to be. He has been brittle throughout his career. He has not been super productive lately, catching only 38 passes for 405 yards and four TDs last year.

But did I mention he's only 27? Maybe he surprises. Maybe.

Reggie Wayne is a wild card. I'm certain he's working to get healthy. He was not healthy last year but that's often the case when the NFL body reaches 36 years old. I'm certain he wants to play for a winner, which may mean the Dolphins don't qualify in his mind based on no playoffs since 2008.

But he did play at the University of Miami. And he was productive last year -- 64 catches for 779 yards and two TDs although he clearly ran out of gas toward the end of the season.

Hey, it's a shot in the dark.

That's where the Dolphins are right now in trying to fill their uncertain available role: In the dark.

 

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