The Cleveland Browns have no choice but to keep the dynamic wide receiver tandem together.
If the Cleveland Browns made roster decisions based off ideas that originated on Twitter they would be in a bad spot. There is some prevailing thought that Cleveland must move on from one, if not both Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. Not only is this thought incredibly dumb, it should never happen. The Cleveland Browns must keep the duo of OBJ and Landry together.
The salaries of OBJ and Landry
One of the biggest perceived obstacles is the contracts of Beckham and Landry. Both are due high salaries which results in a large percentage of their financial commitments being dedicated to one position group. OBJ has cap hits of over $15 million for the next three seasons while Landry sits at $14.7 million in 2021 and $16.5 million in 2022. The aspect most circle back around to is that Beckham has no dead cap after next season while Landry’s is $3 million for each of the next two seasons. This presents a reasonable out for the Browns if they choose to move on. Even with the opportunity to do so, they should not.
For those who only focus on the salary cap it can be tempting to try and move on from the duo. The temptation is to combine cheapness and performance in order to find some sort of less costly alternative to having to actually pay talented players. This may work for backup roles or third or lower receivers, but it simply does not work with the starting lineup. If a team actually wants to have production from a player who is not on a rookie deal, the price is going to be much higher than what some who have no say in the matter want to pay.
Browns are better off with more weapons on offense, not less
Based off his performance this past season, there are a lot of people making definitive statements on Baker Mayfield. The fact of the matter is that he is still a relative unknown product. The variance in performance shows a large margin of where Mayfield lands on the talent scale. Chances are after more information is learned that he will end up in the middle of that scale. The fact of the matter is that the Browns need as many weapons on offense as possible and keeping OBJ and Landry together in Cleveland will help elevate the play of Mayfield.
Having receivers such as Beckham and Landry in addition to others puts Mayfield in a position to succeed. Well, the receiving duo combined with the excellent coaching and scheming from Kevin Stefanski. Subtracting the best two receivers on the team from the equation would be foolish. There is no easy or less expensive alternative that would be an adequate replacement. This would result in opposing defenses keying in other players or aspects of the offense resulting in things being more difficult. Instead of sabotaging themselves according to an agenda of misguided individuals, the Browns are better off now and in the future by retaining both Beckham and Landry.
