Jarvis Landry seems content on being a cap casualty for the Browns

Jarvis Landry appears to be ready to move on from the Cleveland Browns.

Jarvis Landry has been a Cleveland Brown for four seasons. His first two years were filled with success on a personal level. His next two years, while a playoff appearance did happen, were significantly down years for the former Pro Bowl receiver.

Injuries to his hip, feet, and knees have sapped whatever elite skillsets he once had. Always a slow-footed player, he’s now even slower and less reliable in the passing game. While he was once automatic with pass-catching, he’s now someone that has a history of drops in key moments.

These converging things have many people wondering if his play has declined significantly and if he can bounce back. He’s not a number one receiver anymore, and that’s part of the problem; he’s paid like one.

His contract is bloated, he’s set to earn $16 million for his final year. If he put up 124 receptions for 1,410 in 2021, I’d be all in favor of keeping Landry and paying him that much. He would have earned it. Yet, that’s not the case here. Those stats were what he put up over the last two seasons. That’s not ace money. If you want to be a team’s ace receiver and get paid like it you, have to produce like it.

Playmakers make plays, like at Deebo Samuels. He had bad quarterback play but no one is saying he isn’t a play-maker. Landry isn’t the guy he once was. He knows this. That’s why it appears as though he won’t take a contract restructuring.

Jarvis Landry clearly doesn’t want to be in Cleveland

The Browns haven’t said it out loud, but they seem to want him to rework the final year of his deal. Landry hasn’t said it out loud, but he’s not willing to do so. Telling social media that it’s up to the Browns what happens next. There’s reading between the lines here, but that’s the feeling; the Browns want him to agree to a restructuring, but he doesn’t want to.

This takes us to a few key things. Firstly, Landry is saying all the right things; but he’s not doing all the right things. He’s being cryptic, sub-tweeting, and liking provocative statements on Twitter, all while saying he wants to say in Cleveland. Yet, he knows he’s not going to make a lot of money in free agency; he’s slow, injury-prone, and no longer as reliable as he once was. He knows one way or another he’s not getting that $16 million.

So if he wants to stay, why wouldn’t he work out a new deal? He’s already rich beyond his wildest dreams, and if loves Cleveland as much as he does, why wouldn’t he do whatever he could to stay? To be clear, if he were to say “I want to make as much money as possible and will go to whatever team can give me that”, that’d be fine. It’s a business, we get it. Yet, if you say that staying someplace is the most important thing to you, or imply it by saying you “want to be here”, then why aren’t you doing everything you can to stay?

Actions speak louder than words.

It really feels like Landry wants out but doesn’t want people to know that. It feels like he’s orchestrating his own release with subterfuge, telling the media “oh yeah, I love it here!”, all while waiting for his release to come. Knowing full well that he could stop it.

It doesn’t seem like Landry wants to stop it though. He seems intent on it. That’s fine, he doesn’t have to be ok with taking a pay cut. Just don’t lie to us and pretend like it’s the Browns who are the ones being unreasonable.

How this chapter ends will truly prove whether or not he was responsible for the “culture change” in the Browns. One that, honestly, I don’t think he had as much to do with as people claim, not as much as Myles Garrett and Nick Chubb, but how this plays out will solidify his reputation.

Hopefully, if he does leave, he leaves on a good note and not like his “bff’.