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Keeping Josh Gordon A No-Brainer For the Cleveland Browns

By Zac Wassink

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Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon expects to play in the National Football League in 2016. Gordon should only play for the Browns this year if he is available.

So much about the Cleveland Browns is unknown at this point of 2016. The front office of the Browns is under new management once again. Another coaching change has been made. The Browns will likely be starting a rookie quarterback at some point of the 2016 National Football League regular season.

Wide receiver Josh Gordon may be atop the list.

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It was widely reported last week that Gordon, as expected, has filed with the NFL for reinstatement. The 24-year-old was suspended indefinitely in 2015 for repeated violations of the league’s substance abuse policy, and thus Gordon was essentially not a Browns player for the entire season. Those of us who are not Gordon have no reason to believe that he will not be reinstated, but fans of the Browns will be left holding their breaths until official word comes from the club, the team or from Gordon.

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Gordon’s status is but one of many unknowns hovering over the player’s future. Since being acquired by the Browns via the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft, Gordon has consistently lacked the maturity and awareness needed to remain an active player. That his last suspension occurred because he was (allegedly) unaware that he was not allowed to consume alcohol per league rules was yet another reminder that Gordon still, in many ways, didn’t “get it.”

Gordon has also shown that he is more than worth the trouble.

Gordon is not simply a great player. He has, when fully healthy, fully motivated and not in trouble with the league and/or the Browns, looked like a once-in-a-generation WR, an absolute freak of an athlete who cannot be covered one-on-one and who can take the ball to the house from almost anywhere on the field. As it pertains only to talent, Gordon could be better than any other WR of the past decade at least.

It is because of his abilities on the field that so many fans of the Browns are anxiously awaiting for some official update on Gordon. His availability aside, we do not yet know, for sure, that Gordon’s future will be with the Browns. New Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson has nothing to gain in showing his hand regarding any player on the team’s roster, and thus what exactly he is thinking about Gordon is known only to Jackson and maybe to those in his inner circle.

There should be no question or debate about it. Gordon should be a member of the Browns through 2016 so long as he is eligible.

Gordon’s talents are undeniable. For a period of time in 2013, Gordon was the best offensive player in all of the NFL. That he has put up monster numbers despite never playing alongside a proven franchise quarterback is all the more impressive. Granted, it has been a couple of years since Gordon was available for the majority of a NFL season. There is bound to be some rust.

Even at 80 percent of his former self, Gordon could be a special player.

Gordon does not have a reputation for being a disruptive force. He is not a locker room cancer. The case for the Browns parting ways with Gordon before the 2016 NFL season begins and ends with the idea that the team cannot trust him to obey certain league rules.

So what if he doesn’t? The absolute worst case scenario for the Browns if the team keeps Gordon and he screws up again is that he won’t be able to play. Cleveland has been living with that reality for the better part of two seasons. What’s one more?

Having Gordon as even a possibility for 2016 should not stop Jackson and company from addressing the needs of the Cleveland offense during the upcoming offseason. Drafting WRs early and often this coming spring must be on the table for the Browns. Gordon’s cap hit is, per Spotrac, basically nothing in the grand scheme of things. There are questions about how Gordon’s prior suspensions will affect his deal with the Browns, but those will eventually be sorted out.

Here are the scenarios for if the Browns retain Gordon’s rights up through the start of training camp:

  1. Gordon returns, is the player of old and stays out of trouble, and the Browns discuss his long-term future with the team a year from now.
  2. Gordon returns, is a shell of his former self because of time away from the NFL, and everybody moves on.
  3. Gordon returns, gets injured and enters a state of limbo.
  4. Gordon gets in trouble one more time and probably never plays another down of NFL football.

None of those would be worse than the Browns getting nothing or pennies on the dollar for cutting ties with Gordon. No franchise is going to part with a first-round pick for Gordon’s services because of his track record. Gordon is a better player than any that the Browns are going to find outside of the first round of any NFL Draft. Trading Gordon is not a realistic option for the Browns.

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The only entity that stands to lose anything here is Gordon. The 24-year-old has already cost himself millions upon millions of dollars that would have been paid to him had he continued to excel on the field and manage to stay out of trouble off of it. Even one tremendous season would not, on its own, be enough to fully rehabilitate Gordon’s reputation. 2016 will be a defining year in the life and career of Josh Gordon.

The year should end with Gordon either on the roster of the Browns or out of the NFL.

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