The Browns ignited this new fire under Moore by demonstrating the potential they saw in him earlier this season and giving the Jets the No. 42 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft in exchange for the wideout and a third round (No. 74) left ) choice.
Moore’s departure was a long time coming. Although his inflated expectations as a rookie were initially dampened by injuries, he was still fit for 11 games and showed his potential with 43 receptions for 538 yards and five touchdowns in an otherwise dismal 4-13 2021 season for the team.
Then came last year. The Jets’ passing game was difficult overall, but Moore became virtually invisible at times. After catching a catch for 11 yards in Week 6 and seeing no goals in the next game, he requested a trade, which was initially denied and Jets coach Robert Saleh scraped him for the next game.
Though he worked his way back into the WR rotation, he ended the year with just 446 yards and a score on 12 fewer goals in five more games than in 2021.
With the Jets now having an off-season to retool and better secure themselves to accommodate Moore’s request, they did just that, including Allen Lazard in the first wave of free agency, and then a week later, on the same day of the Moore- Trading, Mecole Hardman undertook.
It finally spelled the end of an arduous experience for the young wideout.
“I think of myself as a positive person,” Moore said of the previous year. “Obstacles come the way I dealt with them last year and I feel like going through life, let alone playing football now, just puts me in a better position.” From now on, I want a better one Man, to be a better soccer player, a better brother, a better mom or whatever because that just hasn’t affected me – I love soccer. This season didn’t just impact football. It affected my life, good or bad. So I had to learn from it.”
As he grows out of it all, Moore is fitting in quite well with the WR corps that is taking shape around quarterback Deshaun Watson.
With Amari Cooper, the undisputed all-rounder leader, and the burly Donovan Peoples-Jones taking a leap last season, Moore has the agility and tenacity to play valuable snaps from the slot alongside them. He too has to grapple for targets with newcomer Cedric Tillman, but the new environment offers plenty of opportunities.
Priority #1 is to convert that into career advancement through excellence in Cleveland. It wouldn’t be a bad side effect to refute misguided opinions stemming from his public divorce from the Jets.
“Social media will serve its purpose. The media will do their thing,” Moore said. “People in the building know who I am and what I stand for and what I do when I go home and how I’m doing. So I really can’t stand it when I’m trying to prove myself to everyone else. And I’m still learning that. Of course I want everyone to see how much time I put into it, how much I love football, how much I watch this, that and the third, you know what I mean? But they will see in due course.”