Rishard Matthews has had a bumpy 4 years in Miami, however, most of the problems were caused because he and Philbin did not get along. Matthews and Philbin had some personal issues with each other. Matthews went so far as to flirt with the idea of demanding a trade to a team that would give him the chance to start. Matthews ended up sticking with the team, and before he got injured this season, he was one of Tannehill’s top targets at wide receiver.
Matthews was buried on the Dolphins depth chart before the season began. But, when he was given an opportunity, he always made the most of it. He quickly became the Dolphins number 2 wide receiver behind Jarvis Landry, and in his 11 games of action this season he had 43 receptions for 662 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a 15.4 yards per catch average. He has proven that he can make plays, and has developed a very solid rapport with Tannehill, which is always a positive thing when weighing a decision on whether or not to re-sign a wide receiver.
A team can never have enough good receivers, so by saying that Miami can afford to let Matthews walk because they have Landry, Stills and Parker is not an end all, be all reason to let a productive player leave. Matthews, who is a former 7th round pick, is still a very young at 26 years old, which means his best years should still be ahead of him. He was a steal for the Dolphins, only costing them just over $2.1 million dollars over his 4 years on the team, and Miami should reward him by re-signing him to a contract that more reflects his value. Miami does not need to break the bank, but they can definitely give him a healthy raise.
I know many sports gambling fans are going to say that the Dolphins are already over the cap and will not have the necessary funds to afford to re-sign Matthews, however, Miami has a lot bloated contracts that they can get rid of this off-season. For example, former first round pick Dion Jordan is going to count as $6.2 million against the cap next season, and he can’t even stay clean in terms of PED’s. So why not just part ways with Jordan, and use the savings to pay a player like Matthews, who is an in-house talent that has proved himself on the field?
Another reason that Tannenbaum shouldn’t simply dismiss Matthews is that the more important FA needing to be signed might not even want to return to Miami. If Miller and Vernon want off the charts pay, Matthews could be resigned for fair value. For me, it’s a “no-brainer” to keep the channels open and at least appear interested in bringing him back. While Matthews might be only the third highest valued FA, he may end the 1st in feasibility. What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans thoughts about trying to seriously re-sign Matthews?