Cleveland Browns receiver Elijah Moore has admitted that he’s glad to “feel wanted” after being traded by the New York Jets.
Moore was traded to the Browns back in March shortly before the arrival of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers. Before Rodgers arrived, though, the Jets brought in two of his former teammates in the wide receiver department.
Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, who had been on the Packers roster alongside Rodgers, both made the move to the Jets in the early weeks of the off-season, as did Mecole Hardman from the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result, Moore was deemed surplus to requirements at the MetLife Stadium.
The Browns received Moore, a third-year veteran in the NFL, as well as a third-round draft pick from the Jets. In return, the Jets got Cleveland’s second round pick in last month’s draft.
Moore was drafted by the Jets in 2021 and was one of the top rookies in his first season in the NFL. However, after the arrivals of Hardman, Lazard and Cobb it appeared that the Jets were heading in a new direction.
The 23-year-old has opened up on his move from the Jets, and how he feels “wanted” after signing for the Browns. "I can't do anything but feel blessed to be in the opportunity that I'm in right this moment," Moore told reporters on Wednesday.
"It feels good to be wanted, and it's going to make any player, any human, go harder. When you feel like that and you feel like you're around people who want you to be here, so I'm going to give it all I got every single day."
Moore added: "I hold myself to be a positive person. "Obstacles come just like how I handled last year, and I feel like it only put me in a better position to go through life, let alone football now.
“So, from this point on, I'm looking to be a better human being, a better football player, better brother, mother, whatever it is, because that just didn't affect -- I love football. whoThat season (2022) didn't just affect football. It affected my life, whether it was good and bad. So, I got to learn from it."
Moore will be joining a Browns team that had a 7-10 record and finished bottom of the AFC North. There was no playoff run this year for Kevin Stefanski’s team, but the addition of Moore will provide his offense with an extra dimension to be able to cause problems for opposition defences.
"Social media is going to do its thing. Media is going to do its thing," Moore added. "The people in the building know who I am and what I stand for and what I do when I go home and how I am. So, I can't really live for trying to prove myself to everybody else. And I'm still learning that.
“Of course, I would want everyone to see how much time I put into it, how much I love football, how much I watch highlights this, that, and the third, you know what I'm saying? But they are going to see it in due time."
