Josh Gordon’s six-plus year tenure as a member of the Cleveland Browns is coming to an end. Days after announcing they would release the former Pro Bowl receiver, Cleveland is reportedly close to dealing Gordon to the New England Patriots.
The #Patriots are getting close on a deal for #Browns WR Josh Gordon, source said. Not official yet but headed that way.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 17, 2018
Gordon, 27, has seen his career defined by off-field incident after off-field incident. The issue here has been an inability to stay sober.
Suspended multiple times under the NFL’s substance abuse policy, Gordon missed 11 games under that embrella in 2014. This came after he led the league with 1,646 receiving yards in 2013.
The former Baylor standout was then suspended for the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons before ultimately being reinstated for the final five games of the 2017 campaign.
Cleveland’s decision to move on from Gordon reportedly stems from him reporting late to the team facility on Saturday. This came after he was surprisingly ruled out for Week 2’s game against New Orleans with a hamstring injury. Those within the Browns’ organization were concerned that he had relapsed. Remember, Gordon missed the vast majority of training camp while dealing with his sobriety issues.
If clean off the field, Gordon would provide the Patriots with that No. 1 receiver for Tom Brady moving forward. He’d immediately become New England’s most talented offensive weapon outside of Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
This is a developing story. We will have more on it moving forward.