The Cleveland Browns know full well that they are likely going to be without star wide receiver Josh Gordon for at least the first half of the season. The third-year player met with the NFL earlier this month about his appeal of a one-year suspension the league levied against him in the offseason.
With two weeks remaining until the start of the NFL season, the Browns have yet to hear back from league officials about the appeal. While not necessarily a pressing issue in the grand scheme of things, Cleveland deserves an answer sooner rather than later. After all, Gordon is its best offensive player and his presence on the field will go a long way in helping what has been a disastrous offensive unit over the past few seasons.
As it relates to the situation with Aldon Smith and the 49ers, it’s more of a pressing issue.
Smith also met with league officials earlier this month, but the NFL has yet to levy any type of punishment in his direction. Considering there is no telling one way or another how long the star pass rusher will be suspended, San Francisco is a tad more out in the cold than Cleveland is with Gordon.
This led an unnamed 49ers official to indicate to Sportsnaut on Wednesday that the team isn’t necessarily prepared to be patient.
We need to know exactly what direction we are going to go in with our first-team defense. Is he (Aldon) going to be there or do we have to look in another direction? If so, for how long?
It makes absolutely no sense that the league would wait this long to rule on Smith’s potential suspension. If he is suspended for an extensive period of time, which many believe will be the case, the 49ers 53-man roster may in fact be impacted. That’s the major point of contention in Santa Clara right now, at least according to the official I spoke with.
For what it’s worth, San Francisco is preparing for a six-game suspension. But that’s not an indication that they expect Smith to be out for that long. Rather, it’s presumed to be a worst-case scenario. The feeling that I have at this point, and it’s pure conjecture, is that Smith will be suspended for no more than four games.
With that said, the 49ers deserve an answer as soon as possible. And the NFL dragging its feet on a ruling isn’t fair to the team as a whole.