It took an awfully long time for the league to come to a decision on Cleveland Browns superstar wide receiver Josh Gordon, who faced a season-long suspension for various violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy. He missed the first two games of the 2013 season with a light suspension, but he faced an incredibly hefty punishment for the 2014 season. Nobody could understand why the ruling took so long, but we now know that Gordon will indeed miss the entire 2014 season due to a suspension.
Factory of Sadness
Per sources close to FOX Sports’s Mike Garafolo, Gordon’s suspension was upheld during his appeal, which dragged on for far too long and was an all-or-nothing process. Gordon disputed the drug test, though his arguments were extremely weak. The league’s policy on marijuana is far too Draconian and must be reformed, but, as the policy stands right now, Gordon deserved to be suspended; that’s just how it works. It once looked like a settlement would be the most likely scenario for Gordon, but the Browns will unfortunately lose him for the year as no such settlement occurred; he was always destined to miss at least some amount of time.
There’s no doubt that Gordon is one of the league’s elite players, so losing him is a huge blow, though it was an expected one. Miles Austin, Andrew Hawkins, Charles Johnson, and Chandler Jones are four intriguing Browns wide receivers to watch, and a lot hinges on these wildcards. Jordan Cameron is clearly going to be the leader of the Browns pass-catching corps with a nice backfield duo supporting him, but the wide receivers need to be effective in order for Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel to run an efficient offense.