Could Jarvis Landry be on his way out of Cleveland?
The Browns receiver posted a series of tweets Tuesday morning noting that he played through injury last season and evoked questions about his future in Ohio.
"Reality behind all this is I came back to play in the best shape of my life, I got hurt week 2 with a high grade MCL Sprain, Partial quad tear and bone bruise," . "Then came back way to (sic) early and ended up staying hurt the entire season. You never heard me mention anything about it.
" because I was focused on getting on the field as healthy as possible during the week and after games.. a strategic plan was set in place to be followed…
"I have put the ball in CLE court by telling them I would like to stay but if not then I'm confident enough in myself to be a better healthy me this year and moving forward to helping do my part in ."
The injury explanation sheds some light on Landry's struggles in 2021, when he put up a career-worst 570 yards on 52 catches with two TDs in 12 games.
"Before this year I missed 0 games. ," Landry wrote.
The more interesting aspect of the receiver's tweetstorm is the suggestion that he could pursue "winning a championship elsewhere" if sides can't agree on a multi-year solution.
Landry has been a critical cog in the Browns' turnaround in recent seasons since joining the club in 2018. The 29-year-old is entering the final year of a five-year, $75.5 million contract signed in Cleveland in 2018. He's currently set to count $16.379 million against the salary cap, but with his base salary of $14.3 million not guaranteed, the Browns could conceivably move on with little dead money.
The other side of the coin is that the Browns' receiving corps is woefully thin if you take Landry out of the equation. After releasing Odell Beckham last year, Cleveland's depth chart currently reads Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz; Rashard Higgins is set to be an unrestricted free agent.
In four years in Cleveland, Landry has caught 288 passes for 3,560 yards and 15 TDs. The question is whether he'll add to those numbers in 2022 or follow OBJ out of town.
