NFL Trade Rumors: Cleveland Browns acquire Jarvis Landry
The Cleveland Browns have reportedly acquired wide receiver Jarvis Landry from the Miami Dolphins. How might this decision impact the 2018 NFL Draft?
The Cleveland Browns entered the 2018 offseason with an abundance of cap space and draft picks. While generally regarded as the laughing stock of the NFL, Cleveland is in a position to execute an immediate turnaround.
The first step towards achieving that goal was executed on Friday, Mar. 9, when the Browns addressed their abhorrent receiving corps by trading for a Pro Bowl mainstay.
No Browns wide receiver recorded more than 27 receptions, 357 yards, or two touchdowns during the 2017 regular season. The tight end and running back positions produced relatively well, but the absence of ideal production from the wideouts was a devastating blow.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Browns have addressed that void by trading for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry.
Sources: The #Browns are expected to trade for #Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2018
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Browns will send third and seventh-round draft picks to the Dolphins for Landry.
Neither of the picks in Jarvis Landry trade are a first- or second-round picks, per sources. So it will be two picks between rounds 3 and 7.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2018
Landry could prove to be one of the biggest steals of the offseason.
Landry finished the 2017 regular season ranked No. 1 in the NFL in receptions with a career-high 112. He’s more of a possession receiver than a big play waiting to happen, but that’s exactly what Cleveland needs: A player who can move the chains.
Landry created 60 first downs via receptions during the 2017 season—No. 7 in the NFL and 29 more than any player on the Browns.
The Cleveland player who recorded those 31 first downs just so happened to be running back Duke Johnson Jr.—in other words: Not a wide receiver.
Moving forward, the Browns will have Landry and, in a perfect world, an available Josh Gordon. That dynamic duo would give it a player who can move the chains and a deep threat who can take the top off of a defense.
Coupled with the fact that Cleveland entered this move with more than $100 million in cap space and four of the first 35 picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, the possibilities are endless.
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If the Cleveland Browns weren’t going to select a quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft before, the odds have certainly improved now.