You would think making the playoffs in 2020 would have cured the insanity that affects some fans of the Cleveland Browns, but we guess until they win a Super Bowl, the crazy thinking by many will continue.
On Tuesday, WR Jarvis Landry put out a series of tweets explaining that he was never fully healthy after his knee injury in week two, he cut back his media availability because of it, and said his contract situation was now in the Browns’ court.
Immediately, the critics were out. The locker room has a huge problem, the front office doesn’t know it has a problem, and the ability of GM Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski was called into question.
Look, we understand that Landry is very popular among the fans and the media, he’s always been a stand up guy. His speech on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” about the attitude his teammates needed to play with was epic and helped change the loser mentality that permeated the franchise.
We are sure the organization would love to have Landry back with the team in 2022.
However, there is a glitch with doing this.
Landry’s contract would be a cap hit of $16.4 million next season. He’s also 29 years old and coming off an injury plagued season, in which he put up the worst numbers of his career.
The front office would probably love to rework the wide receiver’s deal to either pay him less next year, or perhaps to extend his current deal and spread the money out (or maybe even add more) over more seasons.
Landry knows there is likely no other NFL team that is going to pay him that kind of money at his age and coming off the 2021, so while he says the ball is in the Browns’ court, it really is in the wide receiver’s.
He’s the one that has to make the decision to stay and take a pay cut or go somewhere else for less cash.
And we get that he may not want to stay in Cleveland for less money. Why would you stay in the same place and get paid less? It could be an awkward situation. If the Browns were a Super Bowl favorite, we understand it might make getting less money palatable.
Although we think Kevin Stefanski’s squad can make the post-season in 2022, calling them a Super Bowl threat would be a stretch.
It’s a not a matter of the organization being unhappy with Landry or not being grateful about his role is changing the losing attitude within the team. It’s simply the reality of running a team in a salary cap sport.
If Berry wants to improve the current roster, he simply cannot have the highest paid players on the team not performing at a high level. And before you quote Baker Mayfield’s salary for 2022, it’s different for quarterbacks. Not saying it’s fair, but it’s different.
And there will be other tough decisions to be made as well. Case Keenum probably will not be back, and there is a very good possibility J.C. Tretter won’t return to give the Browns more salary room to work with.
It does not mean the front office doesn’t know what they are doing. In fact, it’s just the opposite. They are doing the right thing.
However, the ball isn’t in the Browns’ court, it’s Jarvis Landry who has to make the big decision.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 