Josh Gordon reinstated: 5 NFL landing spots to take a chance on WR

The NFL has reinstated wide receiver Josh Gordon and he could play soon, but which teams should be willing to take a chance on signing him?

Who can forget how good Josh Gordon was early in his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns? After an 800-yard rookie season, he exploded for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns in only 14 games with the likes of Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell as his quarterbacks. He was unbelievable. But issues with substance abuse derailed his career and left him out of the league for the 2021 NFL season. At least that was the case to start the year.

On Friday, Josh Gordon was reinstated by the NFL. Moreover, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that he could be ready to play as soon as Week 4, which means he’s probably in shape and ready to go if a team is willing to take a chance on him.

Gordon has had stints with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots since his Browns tenure but both have been relatively short-lived. All told, he could be looking at his last chance but, at 30 years old and with his history of performance, he could worth that risk.

So which NFL teams should be taking a look? These five franchises would make sense as landing spots.

NFL landing spots for Josh Gordon following wide receiver’s reinstatement

5. Seattle Seahawks – This is all about familiarity. Gordon last played for the Seahawks and the regime is still in place. Furthermore, he played well as the third wide receiver in Seattle and could be that again with Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf.

If we’re talking about taking chances, this is a team that has done it before and it might just be in their nature to do so again as well.

4. New Orleans Saints – It’s kind of wild how barren the Saints wide receiver corps is with Michael Thomas out for roughly the first half of the 2021 season. Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harris are the top options for Jameis Winston right now.

While people hope Sean Payton can rectify the former No. 1 overall pick at quarterback, he needs help within the offense. Adding Gordon to the mix could potentially help with that on Sundays as he could be not only another deep threat but more of a possession receiver that’s currently lacking.

3. New England Patriots – With an aggressive offseason approach, Bill Belichick upgraded the Patriots pass-catching weapons from last year, signing tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith in addition to wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. But the truth is, upgrading from 2020 was relatively easy to do and doesn’t mean wide receiver is in a great spot.

Gordon obviously has familiarity with New England and Belichick, even if it wasn’t the most successful tenure there. Still, as the Pats try and break in a rookie quarterback and give him the best options, maybe adding the 30-year-old would be part of that.

2. Green Bay Packers – It’s pretty much a broken record at this point. The Packers need wide receiver depth beyond Davante Adams. They traded for Randall Cobb and drafted Amari Rodgers but the fact of the matter is that it’s still Adams and then uncertainty behind him.

Josh Gordon wouldn’t necessarily bring immediate certainty but he would offer a better chance at it in 2021 than anyone else on the roster could. His skill set, if it were to be fully realized, would also wonderfully complement Adams’.

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Because Patrick Mahomes is such a singular quarterback, we sometimes overlook the fact that he has Tyreek Hill as his top wide receiver but, now that Sammy Watkins is gone, the secondary options are Mecole Hardman, Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson.

Especially with how porous Kansas City’s defense has looked, it stands to reason they could use an upgrade. There’s no one available that offers the upside that Gordon does in addition to the Chiefs having a culture that could get Gordon back to peak performance.