Jarvis Landry and Dolphins are better off without each other

Jarvis Landry was in Miami for four years putting up big number and impressive stats. Now he’s a Cleveland Brown and he doesn’t seem to miss South Florida.

Landry is a dynamic player. He’s also an emotional and outspoken player. Dolphins fans have seen his fiery outbursts on the field, so it comes as no surprise that he had some harsh words for the team after a messy divorce.

The Jarvis Landry era has ended in Miami. Landry is a Brown. The Dolphins signed Albert Wilson and Danny Amendola to replace him. They’ve bother moved on. There was a point where Landry and the Dolphins were still interested in each other, but they couldn’t make it work. It wasn’t in the cards since Landry wanted to maximize his paycheck and the Dolphins wanted to minimize his salary cap hit. After months of will-they, won’t-they speculation and drama, the Dolphins traded Landry to Cleveland for the 123rd pick in the 2018 draft and a 7th rounder in the 2019 draft.

The Browns quickly rewarded Landry with a new mega deal. His new contract is for five years and $75 million with $47 million guaranteed. After voicing his displeasure with his receiving of the Dolphins’ franchise tag, Landry found the contract he was looking for.

Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com recently interviewed Landry and asked him about the trade and his new blockbuster deal. Labbe also asked in-depth questions about Landry’s time with the Dolphins. He didn’t say a lot of good things about the Fins, but it’s worth the read and can be found here.

In the interview, Landry threw some jabs toward the Dolphins’ quarterbacks. When talking about his excitement to play with Browns’ quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield, Landry stated that the situation is “a lot better than what I had in Miami”. That’s farfetched. Mayfield is a rookie and might not even see the field this year. Taylor is, at best, a middle of the pack QB. The Bills traded him away for a 3rd round pick. Teams rarely trade great quarterbacks. Landry had to play with Matt Moore and Jay Cutler at the helm, which aren’t ideal options. Ryan Tannehill is the last one left. He’s easily the best QB on either roster.

Landry also stated that he didn’t intend to play on the franchise tag. That might be revisionist’s history. We don’t know and will never find out if Landry would’ve actually held out. The franchise tag would’ve paid well, but it doesn’t have multi-year job security. It’s a moot point, though, since he got the contract he wanted. It seems that both Landry and the Dolphins got what they wanted.

Landry wanted out. He also wanted paid. The Dolphins didn’t want to pay. They also weren’t worried if Landry left. That’s not a recipe for a healthy or sustainable professional relationship. Maybe it’s for the best that both parties went in their own directions.