Dolphins Accused of Letting Five-Time Pro Bowler’s Career ‘Die’ Through 2018 Browns Trade

Former Five-time Pro Bowler Jarvis Landry spent four seasons with the Miami Dolphins after they selected him No. 63 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft. Miami placed the franchise tag on the wide receiver in 2018, then traded him to the Cleveland Browns in March of that year for a 2018 fourth-round pick and a 2019 seventh-round pick.

Before the trade, Landry made three straight Pro Bowls in South Florida and set an NFL record with 400 receptions through his first four seasons. However, he never wanted to leave. Recently, he called out the Dolphins and former head coach Adam Gase for sending him to Cleveland.

Jarvis Landry accuses Adam Gase of trying to end his NFL career

Landry's career did not stall after Gase sent him to the Browns. He caught 81 passes for 976 yards and four touchdowns in his first season in Cleveland and earned a fourth straight Pro Bowl nod.

In 2019, he posted a career-high 1,174 receiving yards on 83 receptions and made his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl. But the problem was Cleveland's record, because they had gone a combined 1-31 in 2016 and 2017.

"I did not want to leave from Miami," Landry said on his 4th and South podcast. "That was a situation with a coach that he just decided that he was going to try to send me to Cleveland and let my career die and be over with. But when we really take a look at it, bro, we was talking numbers of s*** that I had earned."

Initially, Landry's individual success did little to change Cleveland's losing culture. Under head coach Hue Jackson and interim coach Gregg Williams, the Browns finished the 2018 season with a 7-8-1 record.

The coaching carousel spun the following year again, but under first-time head coach Freddie Kitchens, the Browns regressed to a disappointing 6-10 finish in 2019. Despite the team's struggles, Landry remained a bright spot, earning Pro Bowl nods in both seasons.

The breakthrough finally came in 2020 under a completely new regime. With the hiring of general manager Andrew Berry and first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland's identity shifted. The Browns surged to an 11-5 record, capturing their first winning season since 2007 and ending a league-high 17-year playoff drought.

Landry drove the offense in that season. He missed one game due to COVID-19 protocols but still led the team's receivers with 72 receptions for 840 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games.

Landry criticized Gase after the 2018 trade, stating openly that he believed Gase sent him to Cleveland "to die." When Gase later coached the New York Jets, he addressed the statement. He admitted he threatened to trade players to Cleveland during a team meeting but claimed it was a joke. "I don't remember exactly what I said," Gase said. "It was supposed to be a joke."

However, Cleveland released Landry after four seasons, and he finished his career with the New Orleans Saints in 2022.