Browns reportedly offered veteran WR a one-year deal that he rejected, but the money is drying up across the league for a better deal, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry made the predictable and reasonable decision to release veteran wide receiver Jarvis Landry in March due to the combination of Landry’s age (he will be 30 in November) and his salary ($14.3 million).
Since then there have been almost daily “rumors” or “rumblings” that the Browns would be willing to bring Landry back for another season, especially given the fact that he has apparently not found the type of deal he is looking for despite reported interest from the Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints.
“This is a great WR market for the Packers & I think they’re gonna be involved for Jarvis Landry, Julio Jones & OBJ” ~@RapSheet#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/UXRLxnqNFK
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 10, 2022
Now, with the league deep into free agency and the available money running dry, Landry may end up regretting turning down Berry’s offer of a one-year deal to stay in Cleveland, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who spoke on the topic Tuesday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show:
“As always money is the issue. At this time of year the amount of players who got more than $10 million (a year), you can count on one hand. When Jarvis Landry visited the Atlanta Falcons we all thought that quarterback Deshaun Watson was going there and that would have been about a $10 million deal (for Landry), but I don’t know where he gets that now.
“I know the Browns offered him a pretty nice one-year deal that would have been a pay cut, but he could have gone back there for a nice sum. But he turned that down and now it is the same for anyone who gets released this time of year, there is not a lot of money out there as teams have already spent.”
Nothing is final until it is final, but with each passing day, it seems less likely that Landry will find his way back to Cleveland, especially given that the Browns drafted Landry’s replacement in the third round of this year’s draft in wide receiver David Bell.
In four seasons with the Browns, Landry had 288 receptions for 3,560 yards, 15 touchdowns and an average of 12.4 yards per catch. Those numbers, outside of his yards per catch, were all down from his four years with the Miami Dolphins, when he had 400 receptions for 4,038 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Landry still made an impact on the Browns, however, as he completes his tenure ranked 15th on the franchise’s all-time list in receiving yards, and his average of 60.3 receiving yards per game is third-most for someone who played 40 or more games for the Browns, according to the team’s website.