Landry will join a receiving corps that will benefit from the return of Michael Thomas from injury, the addition of Chris Olave via the NFL Draft, and the experience gained last year by Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harty.
But, immediately, he becomes the receiver with the most NFL production on the roster.
“I think for me it’s just coming in and doing what I need to do, where I’m needed,” Landry said. “I’ve had a great conversation with D.A. (Saints Coach Dennis Allen), great conversation with (quarterback) Jameis (Winston), (offensive coordinator) Pete (Carmichael) as well, that swayed my confidence to be able to be a part of this offense and be another tool to the toolbox.”
“He’s been a really good player in our league,” Allen said. “He’s a guy that we feel like can move the chains, and feel like he’s a guy from a character standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, that I think we can use.”
Landry visited the Saints several weeks ago during free agency, and said he wasn’t certain that he’d sign with the team initially. But that changed during, and after, the visit.
“Early on throughout the free agency process, I wasn’t so sure,” he said. “Obviously, there was interest from a couple of other teams as well. And then I had an opportunity to take a visit, and when I took a visit and I met everyone – I sat down with D.A., I talked to (General Manager) Mickey (Loomis), I talked to Jameis, and me and Jameis continued to have further conversations throughout the following weeks that kind of led to me actually coming back home.”
Too, Landry publicly had been courted by New Orleans Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum, an Ohio native and Browns fan, though the latter may be in transition if it hasn’t already been a full-blown departure.
“We met probably five years ago out in Miami,” Landry said of McCollum, who was acquired by the Pelicans in a trade during the past season. “He was a big-time Browns fan. We met, we talked, at that time I had just got traded to the Browns.
“And then he…