Cleveland Browns: Josh Gordon reinstated, suspended 4 games

The Cleveland Browns received good news on Monday as wide receiver Josh Gordon has been conditionally reinstated by the NFL.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon has been officially reinstated by the NFL after missing all of the 2015 NFL season for his latest run-in with the league’s substance abuse policy.

But before you start saving up for playoff tickets, Browns fans, there are some conditions to Gordon’s return to the team.

Gordon will be able to be a full participant in training camp when it opens on Friday and will be allowed to play in all four of the Browns preseason games. He will have to still undergo treatment and will be suspended for the first four games of the season. While he can’t practice with the Browns or be at the games during the suspension, he can be in team meetings.

“As we discussed at our [July 19] meeting, as commissioner, I want nothing more than to see you turn your circumstances around and succeed,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Gordon, according to NFL.com. “Countless others including your agent, teammates and coaches, Mr. Haslam and the leadership of the organization, the program professionals and Jim Brown also have pledged to provide you with every resource at their disposal.

“Ultimately, your future is your responsibility. I have every belief that you can make the right choices, but it will be up to you to do so.” – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to Josh Gordon

“But as you acknowledged, ultimately, your future is your responsibility. I have every belief that you can make the right choices, but it will be up to you to do so.”

Gordon will miss Cleveland’s games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins. If all goes according to plan, which always happens in Cleveland, he will return for the Oct. 9 home game against the New England Patriots, who will also be welcoming back a suspended player in quarterback Tom Brady.

While Gordon and the Browns still have to deal with the four-game suspension, this is probably the best news they could expect. When it was reported last week that Gordon had met with Goodell, there was talk that the league may not make a ruling until closer to the start of the season, which would have put the Browns in a bit of a bind.

Now they have the opportunity to get Gordon on the field for a full training camp to see where he is physically and mentally, affording them the opportunity to decide if Gordon has a future with the team. Some fans will not like it, but the Browns have been clear from the beginning that they will not make any kind of determination on Gordon’s role with the team until after he returns and they have had time to work with him and speak with him about the future.

It is entirely possible that once they see what Gordon can do on the field, the Browns could look to trade him to another team as they commit to an entirely new wide receiving group. If not, they can wait out to see how Gordon makes it through the four-game suspension and determine his fate then.

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One positive aspect of the NFL’s ruling is that Gordon will be allowed to attend team meetings during his suspension, which should help keep him engaged with the team and less likely to run into trouble during the opening weeks of the season.

The Browns have been down this road before with Gordon, who has been suspended for 27 of the team’s last 32 games. He was suspended for the first two games of the 2013 NFL season only to return and lead the league in receiving yards with 1,646 – including consecutive games of more than 200 receiving yards.

It was a different story in 2014, however, as Gordon was suspended for the first 10 games of the season, only to return disenfranchised and unwilling to learn the playbook. He was ultimately suspended by the Browns for the season’s final game.

With the layoff being only four games this time, there is reason to hope that Gordon will return ready to go.

Next: Rookies report to training camp today

This is only the latest step in Gordon’s ongoing saga to return to the NFL. And while there is still a ways to go before he takes the field in a meaningful game, today’s news is nothing but positive for both Gordon and the Browns.