Jarvis Landry has heard the criticisms and he's out to prove his doubters -- and those of his new team -- wrong

Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jarvis Landry was at peace. It was February and the Dolphins had placed the franchise tag on the soon-to-be free agent. His attitude, his coachability and his value were all being questioned. His future in Miami was murky, at best.

Landry, though, found calm in his daughter, Joy, and his faith in his abilities.

"My daughter (just turned one) and I had a lot of opportunity to spend time with her, hang out with her, be with my family," Landry said. "I think that was one of the most important things for me, especially. I understood that it was coming for me. Whether it was in Miami, Cleveland, somewhere else, it was coming for me from the work that I've put in previously the past four years, so I was at peace with that wherever it was because I believe in myself."

Landry has a new home now. He has a lot of new money, too. The 25-year-old entering his fifth season spoke with cleveland.com following Tuesday's practice on a wide range of topics, including his time in Miami, his expectations for himself in 2018 and, of course, that viral video with his new teammates.

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cleveland.com: Had someone said to you, back in January, that you were going to get traded and then, within a few weeks, you're going to sign a huge contract extension, would you have believed them?

Landry: "Yeah. Honestly, I didn't have any plans to play on the franchise tag. I think that was part of the reason for the trade as well.

"In this game, I think when players have opportunities to get what they deserve they should get what they deserve. I think the franchise tag is a substantial amount, is a good amount, but longterm security is why we play this game. We know how dangerous this game is, so that was kind of my thought. I was at peace, really."

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C: Did you think the extension would happen that quickly or did you think you would have to, not go out and prove yourself, but show what you could do for the Browns?

JL: "I think (head coach) Hue (Jackson) and (General Manager John) Dorsey, (owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam), I think they understood what I could do, what I brought to the table and it's one of the reasons why they went through with the trade. They believed in me, my leadership, my playmaking ability and what I've done in the past four years.

"Did I think it would come that quick? Yeah. A lot of stuff was going on behind closed doors and I was hoping it got done before I even came, but it didn't, but they were working towards it, so I was in high hopes that it was going to happen."

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C: So it sounds like, despite everything that was swirling around, that when you say you were at peace it sounds like you really mean "at peace."

JL: "Yeah. Man, listen, I love this game. I love this game. ... I love just having the opportunity, because there's only 1,600 players in the NFL and there are thousands of people that try to make it to this level and never do.

"Regardless for me, regardless of where I was at, the opportunity to play football was just a blessing in itself and I was at peace with that no matter where it was because I was confident in who I am and what I can do and what I bring."

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C: What's that moment like when you sign that deal?

JL: "It's surreal. Just thinking about it and trying to put it into words, I don't think you can. Again, every player plays this game for that longterm security and going into my fifth year to have an opportunity to put it together and do the things that I've done and be compensated for it the right way, that's like you doing your job and you blasting out these reports and stuff like that, and the positive feedback and when it comes time to get your raise, you want your raise. It's kind of that situation."

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Wilfredo Lee, Associated Press

Landry became just the sixth Dolphins receiver to catch 400 career passes last season and did it faster than any of the other five. No player in NFL history has caught as many passes over the course of his first four seasons in the league as Landry. Still, the Dolphins were unwilling to pay him and traded him for a fourth-round pick this year and seventh-round pick in 2019.

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C: I went back and looked at some reasons why the Dolphins would want to trade you; why they wouldn't want to sign you to an extension. Why do you think that stuff is out there? Why do you think people try to downgrade what you've done?

JL: "I don't have an answer. I played in a system in Miami where it was high volume. I caught a lot of balls. I had less efficiency than a lot of other guys just because of the types of plays that we were running.

"I think that gets missing when you see Antonio Brown scoring a 95-yard touchdown on a fade route or Odell (Beckham Jr.) catching a post, things like that, I think it gets missing.

"But if you watch our games in Miami, you see how the involvement of me made drives go. You see how the involvement of me making plays here and there or a block here and there made drives go. A lot of those drives that I was particularly involved in or targeted in, we scored or we at least got points. I wish I knew, bro. I wish I knew. But it gives me something else to prove every year, you know."

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C: Is there a version of Jarvis Landry that we haven't seen? What does that look like?

JL: "Yeah, absolutely. Hopefully, it's in this offense.

"I think (offensive coordinator) Todd (Haley) is going to give me the opportunities I need to ... not show off my talents, but the things that I can do. I believe that I'm a complete receiver all-around.

"Do I lack speed? Yeah, but a lot of guys lack speed. Jordy Nelson lacks speed, but he goes over 1,000 yards. The quarterback play is so important, which has got me that much more excited about Tyrod (Taylor) and (Baker Mayfield) and the way that they're throwing the ball out here, it makes me that much more excited. It's a lot better than what I had in Miami. I'm excited about that."

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C: What did you think when you found out Taylor was coming to Cleveland, too?

JL: "As soon as I found out he was coming, I texted him, 'let's do it'. Found out when he was coming up here, we all came up here for the press conference, we did the press conference, then we did the thing in Miami where we got everybody together and then we're back here. And we've got something else planned when we leave here right before training camp and stuff like that. I love it.

"Again, I didn't do that in Miami with the quarterbacks because they didn't want to do it. I would say that the chemistry and the type of guys that I'm around here makes me that much more excited because I know I'm going to be pushed at all levels at all times."

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C: So you're saying in Miami they just didn't want to do those kinds of workouts?

JL: I'm just saying like, you hear all the time Tom Brady takes his guys to wherever, the Giants take their guys to Duke. You think of quarterbacks, they have that chemistry with their receivers.

"Again, I caught a lot of balls. On the field, I was more of a blanket and depending on the concepts and the plays it allowed me to be in the quarterback's vision because I was five yards every time so it allowed me to be in his vision always and from there just making the catches.

"I think (Ryan) Tannehill's skill level and the way that he was playing the year we went to the playoffs before his injury was at a high level and he could have took us to a championship or whatever or whatnot, but it didn't happen. Things happen in the NFL and we moved past it and the next season we had Jay Cutler and I love Jay. I love Jay. I really do."

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C: Do you and Taylor connect over the idea that you both performed well for pretty good teams and they didn't want you?

JL: "Whether it was they didn't want us or they had other plans to go in different directions or they were trying to save money ... I think the purpose of us being here is to show them why and to win games here in this uniform which hasn't really been done.

"I'm telling you, man, that's what to get excited about. It's not about where we've been. This is some of the defining moments of our careers. I know for me, I'll say it, for me, I want to continue to improve, continue to show why I believe I'm the best receiver in the NFL."

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C: It's almost like a parallel with the organization.

JL: "And I feel like that's how my life has been. I've always went places and been too slow, not tall enough, not big enough, but always put numbers up, always score touchdowns, always talked about because of my intensity, my effort, but still, in doing that, being the underdog.

"I think that this here, coming here and playing in Cleveland, it's another underdog story. It is what it is and I think we've got to embrace it. Yeah, (stuff) hasn't been done in the last however many years but only one team wins a championship every year. ...

"My goal coming here is not to just win one game and have a parade or win two games, because two games haven't been won here -- that's not my goal. My goal is to win a championship because I train like that. I train with a championship mentality. Every game is a championship for me. I want to win them all. Is that realistic? Maybe not. But I want to win them all."

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John Kuntz, cleveland.com

When Landry signed his contract extension in April, it put him among some of the biggest names at his position in terms of salary.

, only Tampa Bay's Mike Evans and Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald have a higher salary in 2018. He will make more money this season than DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Julio Jones and nearly double what Antonio Brown receives.

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C: People were saying when you signed your extension that the Browns paid $15 million a year for a slot receiver. What's your response to that?

JL: "Every receiver's a slot receiver, depending on the offense. If you go back, I think I caught 60 balls in the slot this past year, but guys like Julio Jones, he catches at least 30, 40 balls from the slot. AB catches about 30, 40 balls from the slot. Guys obviously catch 100 balls, so it balances out, but I've caught 100 balls for the last four years.

"So you take 50 of those, 50 from the inside, 50 from the outside, 20 from the backfield, I think that's what makes me the complete receiver, that I can be anywhere and, again, not as fast, not as big, not as strong.

"Look at Golden Tate. Prime example. Would anybody argue that he doesn't deserve $15 million? No. And, again, he's playing with one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. People don't weigh those situations. You think about Big Ben. You think about Eli Manning. You can't weight that quarterback and Tom Brady.

"And what I've done, I feel like it goes under-appreciated because we've been losing and Miami's not a great market, so I think it does get under-appreciated, but every receiver's a slot receiver."

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C: Do you hear those criticisms or are you pretty good at blocking them out?

JL: "I hear it, but at the same time, I can't change the way that I get fed. Just because I eat with a fork, I don't have to change to a spoon. I'm still getting fed, I'm still eating.

"I think that, for me, is something that I really just wipe off my shoulder because it doesn't define me because I catch the ball from wherever. If the ball thrown to me is a good ball, just catch it, regardless of slot, backfield, outside, that's just what it is."

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John Kuntz, cleveland.com

The video that took Cleveland by storm posted to Landry's Twitter account on March 23. Set to Machine Gun Kelly's "Cleveland," it featured Landry working out in Miami alongside Taylor, Carlos Hyde, David Njoku and Ricardo Louis, a workout that Landry and Taylor put together. It has been viewed over 800,000 times.

It became symbolic for many fans of a culture change that many hope is around the corner and a hopeful sign of the connection that Landry will have with his new quarterback.

(Video contains NSFW language.)

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C: What was it like training in Miami with those guys?

JL: "We were just kind of feeling the vibe, feeling out each other, I was checking out their routes. I saw Njoku, I had heard about Ricardo, I've seen Tyrod for the last four years, I came out with Carlos Hyde, so I was just seeing if they were who they were and they were.

"Those guys are, they're extremely talented. It was more of just getting us together, making sure we know each other, building the chemistry, the camaraderie, so we come out here, we don't have to adapt to each other like it's new. It's more like we've been doing this together and it's just a normal thing."

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C: Where did the video idea come from?

JL: "I have two extraordinarily talented friends that they know how to work the camera, the editing and all that stuff and I told them about the idea and they were like, bro, we should definitely flick that -- that's how they talk, we should definitely flick that -- and I was like, all right, let's do it, and we made it happen."

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C: How good can this offense be?

JL: "One of the best. But we've got to be detailed, we've got to be disciplined, we've definitely got to be tough. When time comes down for crunch time, guys have got to make plays no matter who it is, myself, whether it's Josh (Gordon), no matter who it is, whether it's somebody that doesn't start and have to come off the bench, we have to play for the big moments as well, and I think we're going to be in a lot of them this year. Guys got to step up.

"Every guy, every man counts and that will allow us to be special."

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Hear the full interview

Want to hear the full interview with Landry? Check out our latest edition of the Orange and Brown Talk podcast here.

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