Browns will reportedly activate Josh Gordon on Monday
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns are reportedly planning to activate wide receiver Josh Gordon on Monday. Gordon last played a regular season game in 2014.
The Cleveland Browns may not be celebrating a victory Monday come tomorrow, but they still may give some fans something to cheer about.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Browns plan to bring wide receiver Josh Gordon back to the active roster on Monday.
#Browns WR Josh Gordon will receive his final clearance for next week, source says, and will play in his first game in years. Here is where Gordon is: https://t.co/t3P0LYco40
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 26, 2017
While it has not been inevitable, it has certainly been likely that the Browns would activate Gordon once he returned to the league’s good graces after his latest suspension for repeatedly running afoul of the league’s substance abuse policy.
Gordon began practicing with the Browns last week and Monday is the first day the Browns can place him on the active roster, according to the conditions of his reinstatement. If they do that, and everything goes well, Gordon will be eligible to play next Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
More from Dawg Pound Daily
- How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
- Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
- 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
- Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
- 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target
What comes next is the big unanswered question in the ongoing Gordon saga and the final five games of the season will go a long way toward determining what the Browns will do in the offseason.
Gordon will be a restricted free agent following the season, so the Browns will have some options to consider:
If Gordon plays well and the Browns that he has finally turned his life around, they can retain him.
If Gordon plays well but the Browns are not ready to risk going forward with a player who has been suspended for 55 of the team’s last 59 games, they can work out a trade with a team willing to take a chance on Gordon.
If Gordon plays well but the Browns believe it is in everyone’s best interests to move on, they can place a tender offer on him and pick up a draft pick from whichever team signs him.
If Gordon struggles, the Browns can simply move on from him, something that head coach Hue Jackson said this past week was in the plans last season.
It seemed unlikely, even just a few weeks ago, that Gordon would ever return to the Browns let alone the NFL and he deserves all the credit that comes his way for working to turn his life around.
But there are a lot of fans who are putting an amazing amount of trust in Gordon and simply accepting as fact that he will be the same player he was in 2013. Those expectations may be too much for any player to live up to, let alone one who has spent his entire career as a substance abuse.
These next few weeks are going to be important as the Browns work to determine what comes next with Gordon. They will also provide a level of interest to another lost season.
Next: Browns vs. Bengals: TV, radio info
And while it seems like the end of Gordon in a Browns uniform is drawing closer, the only certainty is that when it comes to Gordon you never know what is going to happen next.