The New York Jets should trade former Florida Gators RB La’Mical Perine

After getting drafted in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, former Florida Gators running back La’Mical Perine did not have the rookie season many had hoped for.

At Florida, Perine was one of the better running backs for the Gators in recent history. Perine ended his Florida career with 2,485 rushing yards and 22 rushing scores.

Perine also added 674 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns.

In his last two seasons as the Gators running back, Perine had 1,934 total yards and 19 touchdowns. Perine showcased his ability to run the ball and catch it out of the backfield during his time as a Gator.

His senior year was his best job interview for the NFL, where Perine caught a career-high 40 passes and had a career-high five receiving touchdowns. Those numbers led to the Jets taking him with the 120th overall pick in the draft.

La’Mical Perine is in a crowded Jets backfield.

In his rookie season, Perine only carried the ball 64 times for 232 yards and two scores. He also caught 11 passes for 63 yards, giving him only 295 yards from scrimmage in 2020.

Under former head coach Adam Gase, the Jets’ offense was a mess. However, Perine did not help his case that he wasn’t part of the problem. So Gase was fired, and new head coach Robert Saleh was hired.

Whenever a new head coach is hired for a team, they like to bring in their own guys, and a lot of the time, they get rid of the old head coaches guys. I would not consider Perine “one of Gase’s guys” mainly because of his usage in his rookie season.

However, clearly, the Jets and their new head coach do not feel strongly about Perine. New York signed Tevin Coleman in free agency and then drafted former UNC running back Michael Carter in the fourth round (pick 107) of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Adding two running backs to the room, a room that some feel running back Ty Johnson is ahead of Perine in, would put Perine as the No. 4 running back. Currently, via ESPN, Perine is listed as the Jets’ No. 4 running back, too, so his roster outlook is not looking good.

Even though he is only entering Year 2 with the Jets, New York should trade Perine as soon as possible. It isn’t as much about giving up on him but instead getting a return on their investment that clearly isn’t going to work.

The Jets could save $780,000 by trading Perine (via Spotrac) and get a pick back for a player that will likely not play much, if at all, for the team in 2021.

One team that would make a lot of sense would be the Miami Dolphins. Miami will have Myles Gaskin as their RB1 in 2021, and Perine could have a shot to either win the job or at least get into Miami’s rotation.

There are other teams in the NFL that could also find more use with Perine than the Jets. Therefore, keeping Perine as the No. 4 running back would not make much sense, and Perine could add value on other teams as a No. 2 or No. 3 running back.

It may be early in some fan’s eyes, but the Jets should trade Perine before starting the 2021 NFL regular season.