The New York Jets have released injured wide receiver Terrelle Pryor on Saturday. Pryor has a tear in his groin but is expected to return in a few weeks. But just because the Jets want him back, doesn’t mean that he will go back there as there are also other teams who will likely be interested in Pryor when he is healthy. A groin injury isn’t something to laugh at. Pryor hadn’t started a game yet for New York this season, but he did have 14 receptions for 235 yards and two touchdowns. He was coming off his best performance of the year, racking up a total of 57 yards and a touchdown on five catches against Indianapolis last Sunday.
Pryor signed a one-year, $6 million deal with New York back in March. Pryor was seeking a fresh start after an extremely disappointing year in Washington. He was brought in to fill the void left by the departures of Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson. Pryor only played in nine games for the Redskins, finishing the year with 20 catches for 240 yards and only one touchdown. An ankle injury ended his season in November.
None of this is really good news for Pryor who is technically without a team right now. In general, injuries aren’t a good thing, but they are a fact of life, especially in a high contact sport like football. That said, this likely isn’t the end for Pryor. It is another surprising development in his career, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t come back from it. After switching to receiver after a few futile years at quarterback, Pryor flashed star potential in the 2016 season, catching 77 balls for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns for Cleveland. Following the hype of that campaign, Pryor signed a one-year deal with the Redskins, but the multiyear payday has yet to come.
If he doesn’t go back to New York, where should he go? According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, he should return to the Browns. According to Cabot, the Browns are desperate for receivers, and Hue Jackson also likes Pryor. He drafted him as a quarterback out of Ohio State when he was head coach in Oakland in 2011, and helped turn him into a 1,000-yard receiver with the Browns in 2016. If anyone knows what Pryor can do, it’s Jackson. If they pick him up now, though, he would take up a roster spot for a few weeks without being able to contribute. But this could help the Browns down the road.
Pryor could help out the likes of Baker Mayfield. Jarvis Landry needs another deep threat to take the pressure off of him. If Pryor was on the roster, and Rashard Higgins was healthy (which he is expected to be soon), the Browns would be back in business for the second half of the season.
What’s interesting to note about this is that Pryor had his best football years under Jackson, and the two have remained in contact. There aren’t that many deep threat receivers sitting around waiting for their phone to ring, so this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad move for Pryor. Even if the Browns decide to pursue bigger names, they should still sign Pryor and see if they can get the player from 2016 back when he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.