DeVante Parker sees his career at a crossroads with Dolphins

DeVante Parker joined the Miami Dolphins organization in 2015 as the 14th overall draft pick, and the fan base expected him to eventually develop into Ryan Tannehill’s best target. Three years later, it appears Parker’s tumultuous time in Miami will becoming to a disappointing close.

Although DeVante Parker showed promise in the 2016 and 2017 seasons with an average of around 50.0 receiving yards per game in each campaign, the Miami Dolphins have failed to obtain the value they expected from Parker when they selected him in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

A combination of injuries and inconsistent play have pretend Parker from becoming the top option in the Dolphins passing attack, which has received far more notable contributions from Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson, and Danny Amendola in 2018.

Parker has caught just two passes for 40 yards this season, with all of those statistics coming in Week 3 against the Oakland Raiders. Although Parker has dealt with his fair share of injuries, his agent released a statement clarifying that Parker is healthy, and he forcefully blamed head coach Adam Gase for naming his client an inactive in the Dolphins 32-21 Week 7 loss to the Detroit Lions.

This is a messy situation, and the decision made by Parker’s agent to vilify Gase is a sign that he and his client want out of Miami as soon as possible. Parker has been placed on the trading block by the Dolphins, per the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero the ‘Fins have spoken to teams about the wide receiver’s future, with the Philadelphia Eagles being the only team explicitly linked to Parker at this time.

At 6’3″, 216 pounds, Parker, who is just 25, still has a chance to develop into a quality No. 2 target who can move the chains for an offense and boss defenders in the red zone. The problem is that players with Parker’s skill-set are expected to be consistent and reliable, and while Parker was moderately productive for two seasons in Miami, he’s been completely invisible in 2018.

It will be interesting to see how teams read into this statement from Parker’s agent, because it could drive down his trade value. The Dolphins must be more desperate to part ways with the under-performing receiver, especially now that his agent has antagonizing Gase by pointedly calling him a liar for benching Parker under the guise that he is injured.

The entire situation is likely complicated, but the end result should be simple. Parker will be traded by an organization that clearly doesn’t seem to value him and is ready to part ways with a player they may view as a first-round mistake. Meanwhile, Parker believes in his natural talent and likely wants a change of scenery (and coaching staff) so that he can prove to the rest of the NFL that he can be a star wide receiver.

With receivers like Amari Cooper and Demaryius Thomas rumored to be on the trading block until next week’s deadline, Parker may not be the most attractive option to potential suitors. But he is the cheapest, is just 25, and has “boom” potential, given that teams can convince themselves that he has a high ceiling.

It will be interesting to see how Gase chooses to respond to Parker and his agent, but, again, it’s becoming obvious that both sides need to move on as soon as they possibly can.