The Cleveland Browns acquired former Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry via trade from the Miami Dolphins in 2018, inheriting his franchise tag value before signing him to a new five-year contract worth $75.5 million. He is entering the final year of that contract with a base salary of $14.3 million and a total cap hit of $16,379,412.
He is also coming off of the worst season of his career, playing in only 12 games due to injury and finishing the year with just 52 catches for 570 yards and two touchdowns, though he also had two rushing touchdowns. It was the first season of his career since his rookie season in which did not attempt a pass—but he did take a sack.
The 29-year-old recently took to Twitter to seemingly set some things straight, starting with his health. Although he still managed to play in 12 games, he was clear in saying that he played the entire year hurt since being injured in week two.
He wrote that he suffered a high-grade MCL sprain that week, which caused him to miss the next four games, in addition to a partial quad tear and a bone bruise on top of that. He added that he came back “way too early” and “ended up staying hurt the entire season”.
Addressing his lack of media availability down the stretch, he says that it was because he was focusing during the week on his rehab and doing everything he could to get ready to be able to play from a physical perspective—and no doubt also so he doesn’t end up going on about his health.
Now four years into his career with the Browns, he insists that he wants to stay in Cleveland, but writes that he has put the ball in the team’s court at this point, telling them he wants to stay. “But if not”, he adds, “then I’m confident enough in myself to be a better healthy me this year and moving forward to helping do my part in winning a championship elsewhere”.
Landry has no guaranteed money left on his deal, and the team would be able to save nearly $15 million, minus displacement, if they were to release him. The Browns are currently projected to have under $24 million in cap space as the offseason begins, with Jadeveon Clowney and David Njoku being some of their more significant pending unrestricted free agents.
Over the course of his four seasons with the Browns, Landry has played in 59 games, catching 288 passes on 475 targets for 3,560 yards and 15 touchdowns. That averages out to 83 catches for 1,026 yards and four touchdowns on average over a 17-game season.
