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Josh Gordon Suspended Sunday: Digging Deeper

By Jared Mueller

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The Cleveland Browns have suspended Josh Gordon for tomorrow’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Gordon was reportedly suspended due to missing the team’s walk thru. Gordon’s suspension has little impact on the Browns this season but has almost unending repercussions for this off-season and the one that follows.

That is where we want to dig a little deeper.

According to reports Gordon has been late to a number of practices, meetings and walk thrus this season. Since his season has only entailed just less than 6 weeks of the year this is an impressive feat to accomplish. Some believe that Gordon’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is behind Gordon’s behavior, hoping that he would get cut or traded forcing a new team to pony up a big deal for the talented receiver.

Besides being a terrible plan, teams were going to be worried about his maturity already, the plan could backfire on Gordon and his agent if it is not true, we will get to that in a moment.

If it wasn’t his agent’s plan then it is another in a long line of immature behaviors by an immature player. Gordon is one strike away from being banned for at least a season, and is coming off of a 10 game suspension. Yet here he is failing to do the simplest of things: show up and show up on time.

The story is an interesting one and starts with Gordon tweeting that he was heading to Houston for Christmas. Not a huge deal, he reportedly wasn’t going to miss any practice time and could be back in time. He even responded on Twitter as it seemed some fans were concerned that he was leaving the team:

Well who knows if he will be able to hold up his end on this statement, as the Browns may have something to say about it. They spoke loud and clear already today by suspending him for tomorrow’s game, and that is where the other shoe drops in this whole thing blowing up on Gordon and Rosenhaus:

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Josh Gordon is getting yet another chance, this time with the XFL
Josh Gordon is getting yet another chance, this time with the XFL /

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    • Gordon was set to be a unrestricted free agent after next season and, if the Browns didn’t cut or trade him sooner, was looking to cash in at that point. Now he will be a restricted free agent, meaning the Browns have some level of control over him for likely at least 2 seasons.

    The Browns hold all the cards, and according to some reports Gordon’s free agent status after next year was one of the reasons they decided to go through with the suspension. The suspension was obviously deserved, missing the walk thru alone is enough but the tardiness adds weight to the suspension.

    (We fully expect that Gordon and Rosenhaus, and legal representation including the Player’s Association, will try to fight the resulting restricted free agency.)

    The Ray Farmer, Mike Pettine Browns have now set a standard by their handling of Josh Gordon. They have pushed Gordon into a corner: Either he shapes up for the next season or two, or more if the Browns match a restricted free agent contract offer, or they will continue to hold him accountable therein impacting his future earnings. The Browns are holding Gordon accountable and only he can change the results.

    Nov 23, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Browns fans Brandon Alley and his wife Stephanie, from Cleveland, hold giants photographs of wide receiver Josh Gordon and quarterback Johnny Manziel before their game against the Atlanta Falcons at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

    The future relationship with Gordon and the Browns is unclear. They are unlikely to cut him, therein giving him what he wants, but are the willing to let him infect their locker room. Some reports have linked Johnny Manziel with Gordon missing the walk thru, but Manziel is done for the season and wasn’t expected there.

    Speaking of Manziel, this likely is a indirect message to him as well. The Browns are going to hold players accountable and “Playing like a Brown” is not a slogan but an expectation. For Manziel, or Gordon, to succeed as they would like they will have to do it Farmer and Pettine’s way, not their own.

    Likely, the Browns will welcome Gordon back next year and he will talk all about how he has learned from this and has changed. And no one will believe him. He will have all of next season to turn the tables on his current reputation and hope that he can garner the kind of interest in restricted free agency to have that hard work pay off. For Gordon the worst case scenario is having to either sign the restricted tender with the Browns or be forced to sign a low ball offer from another team and hope the Browns don’t sign.

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    Not exactly what the league’s leading receiver last season had hoped for in the summer of 2015.

    It is possible that the Browns could find a trade partner for the uber talented Gordon but it won’t be for less than they think his talent is worth. If they believe Gordon would give 1st or 2nd round talent if he were giving full effort, they will expect 1st or 2nd round compensation. Unlikely they will be able to obtain that for the same reasons Gordon is unlikely to receive a huge contract offer if things do not change.

    While some many point to continued malfunction within the Browns organization, this is a player issue. The team is showing that they are willing to do what they think is best, even though it might draw criticism or a legal battle. That is an organization that I am proud to support.

    It also seems to speak to the long term commitment Jimmy Haslam has to Farmer and Pettine. He isn’t likely to allow this kind of high profile decision if he had an concerns about his top football people. He would likely force them to sweep this under the rug and just move on, very few would notice. Instead Gordon is suspended and “Playing like a Browns” means more and more everyday.

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    What do you think of Josh Gordon’s suspension and the deeper meaning?

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