Josh Gordon traded to the New England Patriots
September 17, 2018Antonio Callaway appears to be the heir apparent to Josh Gordon
September 18, 2018The Josh Gordon saga began in the 2012 when the Cleveland Browns took a chance and drafted the talented wide receiver in the second round of the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft. In the six years with the Browns, Gordon has played in exactly half of the Browns games over those years. He has played in 41 games, but missed 41 games. He has suffered from off-field transgressions, including an arrest and multiple failed drug tests. But through it all, the Browns stayed with him for one reason, his immense talent.
The Browns have been standing on the ever-distant chance that Gordon can stay clean and show off the talent that earned him a 2013 Pro Bowl invite. In that year that has kept the flame of his career alive, Gordon caught 87 passes for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns. He was unstoppable. That year’s success caused the Browns to stick with the troubled receiver through more crap than any other player would have been allowed to go through without being let go.
You can say the Browns should have let the receiver go a long time ago. But, the ever-changing construct of the organization has allowed the Gordon saga to withstand six years. It finally fell to the feet of the Browns General Manager John Dorsey to direct the saga.
John Dorsey managed it correctly. Coming in late last season, Dorsey gave Gordon a clean slate because this was the first time Dorsey was part of the long and troubled relationship between the Browns and Gordon. It is not a shock or a wrong choice for Dorsey to want to give it try and see if he can be the one to get Gordon on the right path. It’s hard to not see the talent and strive to get that talent out on the field.
But, then came the beginning of the 2018 NFL training camp. Gordon left unexpectedly on a leave of absence to handle his personal issues. The Browns stuck with him even though it seemed that the team was left out in the dark for what was really going on and why it was happening at that point of the season. This move, though, caused Dorsey to put Gordon on notice that there would be no more leeway given in this relationship. Many previous regimes have probably said this before, but Dorsey meant it.
Gordon could not follow that directive and fell into another troubling situation where he got injured off the field and then was late to report the following day. Dorsey was done. He did not want to give Gordon yet another chance. He had to show leadership and structure for the rest of the organization. It was probably extremely tough, but in the end, it was the right move for the franchise. The saga needed to end.
The fact that Dorsey got something for Gordon makes it an even more impressive move by the general manager. Getting a 2019 fifth round pick is more than I thought the team would get after the entire league knew the Browns were done with Gordon. So, the Browns and Dorsey did two things. They showed structure and direction in that the team would no longer be letting things go even if the talent was so powerful. They also were able to turn a failing asset into at least some sort of value. The current Browns organization, which is the only one we can judge now, managed this correctly.