NFL notebook: Browns sign Landry to $75.5 million extension
Former Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry (14) landed a five-year, $75.5 million contract extension from the Browns.
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry signed a five-year contract extension with the Cleveland Browns worth $75.5 million, the team announced.
The extension includes $47 million guaranteed for Landry, according to NFL Network. He was acquired by the Browns in a trade last month with the Miami Dolphins.
Landry, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, led the league in receptions with 112 last season. By comparison, the sum total of Browns receivers recorded 134 -- with Rashard Higgins and Ricardo Louis each grabbing 27. Landry finished with 987 yards receiving for an 8.8-yard average per catch in 2017. He also had nine touchdown catches.
-- Former NFL linebacker Aldon Smith was transferred to an in-patient substance-abuse center, TMZ reported Friday.
Smith had a blood-alcohol content of .40 when he arrived at the San Francisco Sheriff's Department last week.
Smith, who has been arrested three times in the last two months, was ordered to enroll in alcohol monitoring in the aftermath of his arrest pertaining to an alleged domestic violence incident in early March. The 28-year-old was booked last week for violating a condition of his electronic monitoring while on bail. He was arraigned on three charges of violating a protective order, which was issued when he was arraigned March 12 for domestic violence charges stemming from a March 3 incident with his fiancee. Smith is due in court May 3.
-- Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Allen Hurns said he will definitely not wear jersey No. 88, even though Dez Bryant is gone.
Hurns, who wore No. 88 in four NFL seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, signed with the Cowboys in March. At the time, he said he would switch to No. 17 since Bryant already wears that number. But the Cowboys released Bryant on Friday, making the number available. Despite that, Hurns still will not wear No. 88.
Hurns chose No. 17 to honor the victims of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February. He attended high school at Miami Carol City and played with the Miami Hurricanes before his NFL career took him north to Jacksonville.
The 26-year-old Hurns enjoyed a career season in 2015 with the Jaguars, reeling in 64 receptions for 1,031 yards and 10 touchdowns in 15 games.
-- Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf, one of the biggest disappointments in draft history, said he thinks Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has the makings of a bust.
Leaf, who compared Mayfield to himself in March, told radio station 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland on Friday that Mayfield has raised concerns during interviews.
"A good litmus test for me is always when I listen to radio interviews or TV interviews, I tend to close my eyes and just listen to the voice, and hear the answer. I always say, 'If it sounds like the 1998 version of Ryan Leaf, there's definitely a red flag that needs to be raised there," Leaf said.
The Heisman Trophy winner passed for 4,627 yards and accounted for 48 touchdowns with only six interceptions while leading Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff last season.
--Bruce Arians is heading from the sidelines to the broadcasting booth.
Arians, who announced his retirement as coach of the Arizona Cardinals on New Year's Day, told Azcentral.com that he is weighing two offers to be an NFL in-booth analyst. Just over two weeks after calling it quits, Arians said he had interviews with FOX Sports and the NFL Network. He said at the time that he had a second interview scheduled with FOX and also planned to meet with CBS in February.
The 65-year-old Arians finished his fifth and final season in Arizona with an 8-8 mark. He retired with a 49-30-1 record with Arizona and also posted a 9-3 record as an interim coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2012.
-- Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly is eating on his own, just over two weeks after undergoing 12 hours of surgery for a recurrence of oral cancer.
Kelly's doctor told the Democrat & Chronicle that the former Buffalo Bills standout is one of the toughest patients he has ever treated.
On Thursday, Kelly's wife, Jill, posted a video on Instagram of her husband drinking a chocolate shake after a feeding tube was removed. Dr. Mark Urken told the newspaper that Kelly is not able to chew. but he expects that he will eventually be able to eat and speak without any complications.
Kelly underwent a complicated 12-hour surgery March 28 to remove oral cancer and reconstruct his upper jaw. Doctors called the procedure a success but said the recovery would be "extensive."
-- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier gave fans of his alma mater reason to cheer Saturday.
Shazier, who is rehabilitating from a serious spinal injury sustained in December, stood up and led Ohio State fans in a cheer at the school's annual spring game.
Shazier, already ruled out for the 2018 season because of the injury that initially left him without feeling in his legs, received a standing ovation as he stood up on the sideline and urged the crowd to pump up the volume. Shazier, who served as an honorary captain along with Malcolm Jenkins, also stood and addressed the team in the locker room prior to the game.
A first-round pick of the Steelers out of Ohio State in 2014, Shazier was in the midst of his second straight Pro Bowl season when he was injured Dec. 4 while tackling Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Josh Malone.
-- Danny Amendola has called Bill Belichick the best to ever coach the game, but that didn't make it hard for the veteran wide receiver to walk away from the New England Patriots.
Amendola signed a two-year $12 million contract with the Miami Dolphins last month, ending a five-year tenure with Belichick and the Patriots that included three Super Bowl appearances in the past four seasons. Despite all the success in New England, Amendola told ESPN that it's not "easy" to play for the demanding and stoic Belichick, using an expletive to describe his personality at times.
"There were a lot of things I didn't like about playing for him, but I must say, the things I didn't like were all in regards to getting the team better, and I respected him," Amendola said.
Amendola, 32, had a strong 2017 season with the Patriots, hauling in 61 catches for 659 yards and two touchdowns. He was superb in New England's run to the Super Bowl with 26 receptions in three postseason games.
-- The New Orleans Saints exercised the fifth-year option on guard Andrus Peat's contract.
The move guarantees that Peat will earn $9.625 million in 2019, according to the Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
A first-round draft pick (No. 13 overall) of the Saints in 2015, Peat has started 37 of 42 games in his three seasons in New Orleans, including 14 in 2017.
-- Newly acquired Los Angeles Rams cornerback Aqib Talib had only two destinations in mind when trade talks surfaced this offseason.
Talib told the Rams' official website that his preferred locales for his next job were with Los Angeles or the New England Patriots, citing familiarity with coaches in both organizations.
Acquired from the Denver Broncos last month in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick, Talib pointed to the presence of Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who served in the same capacity in the Mile High City in 2015-16.
The 32-year-old said he nixed a trade to the San Francisco 49ers, but would have accepted a move to New England, where he played for 1 1/2 seasons.
Talib earned Pro Bowl honors in his last season with New England (2013) and was a Pro Bowl selection in each of his four seasons with Denver.
-- Dez Bryant isn't buying the idea that his release by the Dallas Cowboys was a business decision.
Hours after the Cowboys severed ties with Bryant, 29, on Friday, the three-time Pro Bowl receiver told the NFL Network that certain coaches and players on the team were instrumental in the team's decision to send him walking.
"I'll say this right here: I believe that (coach Jason) Garrett's guys (were responsible). I would say that," Bryant said. "I believe that. I truly believe that. I won't put no names out, but they know, and I want them to know on this air I know. I'll shoot them a text message and let them know."
Bryant, scheduled to make $12.5 million in 2018 and count $16.5 million against salary cap, met with owner Jerry Jones amid speculation that he would be asked to take a pay cut in the wake of declining production the past three years. However, that topic never came up, according to Bryant, and Jones said in a statement from the team that "Ultimately we determined it was time to go in a new direction."
Bryant had a team-leading 69 catches for 838 yards and six touchdowns in 2017.
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