DeVante Parker is sticking around in Miami well beyond the new year.
The Dolphins signed Parker to a four-year contract extension that runs through 2023, the team announced Friday. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported the extension is worth $40 million over four years, including $21.5 million in guarantees and an $8 million signing bonus.
Perhaps all the receiver needed was a new coach. A little more than a year after Parker’s agent publicly ripped former Dolphins coach Adam Gase and the Dolphins reportedly shopped Parker amid his worst professional season, the wideout has blossomed. Parker is in the midst of his best campaign, catching 55 passes for 882 yards and six touchdowns. The latter two totals are the best in a season in Parker’s career.
Gase, now head coach of the New York Jets, responded to questions about Parker recently.
“I’m happy he’s been able to stay healthy and it’s working out well for him,” Gase said, per The Miami Herald. “That’s the player everyone was expecting when he was drafted.”
Health has been an issue for Parker since the Dolphins selected him out of Louisville in 2015. He’s appeared in 66 of 77 possible games in his career, but has been hampered by injuries he’s attempted to play through, too.
He was a healthy scratch at least once under Gase last season, though, and has since managed to appear in every game in 2019.
Parker went from essentially being benched in 2018 to a key piece in Miami’s long-term future. The former first-round pick ranks 15th in Dolphins history in career receiving yards, which is surprising, considering he was generally viewed as a disappointment before this season.
Again, though, maybe all he needed was a new leader. No matter who Miami turns to at quarterback in 2020 and beyond, that person will benefit from having the 6-foot-3 Parker in his assortment of targets.