Some will say the Green Bay Packers never knew how to use Jeff Janis as a receiver. Others will say Jeff Janis isn’t smart enough to play receiver. Maybe we’ll finally see which one it was.
Janis will finally be free from Mike McCarthy’s nonsense. He’s signing with the Cleveland Browns.
More Browns transactions. Cleveland is set to agree to terms with former Packers WR Jeff Janis, per source. @nflnetwork @gmfb @NFL
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 30, 2018
This is not surprising at all. With former Packers executives John Dorsey, Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith running the show in Cleveland, there’s not only a familiarity, but perhaps also an affinity for former Packers’ draft picks.
It’s also not surprising that the Packers seemingly made no effort to bring Janis back. They viewed him only as a special teams player and they view those guys as easily replaceable.
Other than as a special teams gunner, Janis’ Packers career will be a forgettable one.
He rarely ever got any playing time on offense. His career totals with the Packers will end up being 17 receptions for 200 yards and one touchdown. He also ran twice for 38 yards and touchdown, with both rushes coming in 2016.
And yes, of course there was the playoff game at Arizona in 2016. The Packers’ receiving corps were so depleted by injury that McCarthy had to play Janis. He caught seven passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns, one on a Hail Mary that put the game into overtime.
Naturally, the Packers’ defense blew it and let the Cardinals run right down the field on the first OT possession for the win. So the legend of Jeff Janis never really took off.
Some thought because of that performance Janis would get more opportunities to get on the field during the 2016 season. Nope!
Janis had just 11 receptions for 98 yards in 2016 and somehow that was his most productive year with the Packers.
I’m not on the Janis bandwagon like some people are (Rob). However, I’m interested to see what another team can do with him.