Cleveland Browns: John Dorsey’s 5 worst player additions
By Peter Smith
3. Trading a fourth and seventh round pick for Jarvis Landry and extending his contract
The move that was hailed by everyone as one that would give the Browns a reliable receiver and someone to help change the culture has provided little evidence of either. Many in the media and fans of the team tried to build Jarvis Landry into a DeAndre Hopkins type receiver, citing his sure hands, toughness and ability to create yardage after the catch.
The criticisms of Landry being unathletic and underwhelming were dismissed as being products of what he was being asked to do with the Miami Dolphins and having quarterbacks like Ryan Tannehill and Jay Cutler getting him the ball. Plus, look at those stats. He’s caught 400 passes in four years, so he must be great.
10 games in to his Browns career, Landry’s having his worst season. He’s dropped more passes, he’s had an incredibly difficult time creating separation and when he gets the ball, his yards after the catch have been incredibly low. With the changes in the coaching staff, there appears to be less of a focus on getting the ball to Landry as well.
Baker Mayfield may be the worst thing to happen to Landry as he’s not inclined to force passes to a particular receiver and will throw to whoever is open. With Tyrod Taylor or the quarterbacks he had in Miami, he was the featured guy and got an obscene number of targets every year. Landry still leads the league in targets this year and hasn’t been able to capitalize, but a new offensive philosophy may drop him from the top spot.
It’s possible that Landry is playing through pain that’s impacting his ability to be the player he would normally be, so the remaining six games will be fascinating to watch. It’s also possible that he becomes less relevant in that time. In the dominant victory against the Atlanta Falcons, Landry was invisible and the game would’ve had the same result whether Landry played or not.
The Browns gave up a fourth and seventh round pick, gave Landry $29 million guaranteed over two years for a win-now player that hasn’t helped them win now. The Brown are 3-6-1, last in the AFC North, and Landry’s viability with this team may be disappearing. He’s certainly better than the Kenny Britt or Dwayne Bowe, which were complete fiascos, but neither cost the Browns draft picks. Regardless, this trade has not delivered anything close to what anyone was hoping.