Josh Gordon applied for reinstatement to the NFL this week, and by all accounts (well, his agent anyway) he's kept his nose clean over the past 12 months. Will Gordon be in a Browns uniform tearing up the league again next year?
The Browns are noncommittal, which makes sense. "We would sit down with Josh and see where he is," says Sashi Brown, the team's newest decision-maker.
Some will say, Why wouldn't a team like the Browns jump to bring back Gordon? But their equivocation makes sense. They control his rights, and have had no contact with him for the last year. They can't lose him if they want him back, but can't be blamed for not assuming he's got his life straightened out and is ready to commit to the team. Fool me once.
If he has set his personal issues aside and is ready to focus on the NFL, of course, he can be an NFL star again. Gordon himself apparently believes he will be reinstated. He's 24 years old.
Certainly the Browns won't just dismiss what he can bring to their offense. He's played only two entire seasons for them, and yet those two both rank in the top 6 campaigns for all receivers on the team over the past five seasons. Heck, even his 2014 season, when he played in only five games, makes it into the team's top 25 over that span.
| TOP CLEVELAND RECEIVING SEASONS, 2011-2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yds | TD |
| 2013 | Josh Gordon | 87 | 1646 | 9 |
| 2015 | Gary Barnidge | 79 | 1043 | 9 |
| 2015 | Travis Benjamin | 68 | 966 | 5 |
| 2013 | Jordan Cameron | 80 | 917 | 7 |
| 2014 | Andrew Hawkins | 63 | 824 | 2 |
| 2012 | Josh Gordon | 50 | 805 | 5 |
| 2011 | Greg Little | 61 | 709 | 2 |
| 2012 | Greg Little | 53 | 647 | 4 |
| 2014 | Taylor Gabriel | 36 | 621 | 1 |
| 2014 | Miles Austin | 47 | 568 | 2 |
| 2015 | Duke Johnson | 61 | 534 | 2 |
| 2015 | Brian Hartline | 46 | 523 | 2 |
| 2011 | Josh Cribbs | 41 | 518 | 4 |
| 2012 | Ben Watson | 49 | 501 | 3 |
| 2013 | Greg Little | 41 | 465 | 2 |
| 2014 | Jordan Cameron | 24 | 424 | 2 |
| 2011 | Ben Watson | 37 | 410 | 2 |
| 2011 | Mohamed Massaquoi | 31 | 384 | 2 |
| 2012 | Trent Richardson | 51 | 367 | 1 |
| 2013 | Davone Bess | 42 | 362 | 2 |
| 2013 | Chris Ogbonnaya | 48 | 343 | 2 |
| 2011 | Evan Moore | 34 | 324 | 4 |
| 2014 | Travis Benjamin | 18 | 314 | 3 |
| 2014 | Josh Gordon | 24 | 303 | 0 |
| 2012 | Travis Benjamin | 18 | 298 | 2 |
| 2015 | Andrew Hawkins | 27 | 276 | 0 |
| 2011 | Jordan Norwood | 23 | 268 | 1 |
| 2012 | Mohamed Massaquoi | 17 | 254 | 0 |
| 2014 | Jim Dray | 17 | 242 | 1 |
| 2015 | Taylor Gabriel | 28 | 241 | 0 |
| 2012 | Jordan Cameron | 20 | 226 | 1 |
| 2012 | Chris Ogbonnaya | 24 | 187 | 0 |
| 2015 | Isaiah Crowell | 19 | 182 | 1 |
| 2011 | Chris Ogbonnaya | 23 | 165 | 0 |
| 2014 | Gary Barnidge | 13 | 156 | 0 |
| 2013 | Fozzy Whittaker | 21 | 155 | 2 |
| 2012 | Jordan Norwood | 13 | 137 | 0 |
| 2011 | Alex Smith | 14 | 131 | 1 |
| 2011 | Peyton Hillis | 22 | 130 | 0 |
| 2013 | Gary Barnidge | 13 | 127 | 2 |
| 2011 | Montario Hardesty | 14 | 122 | 0 |
| 2015 | Darius Jennings | 14 | 117 | 0 |
| 2012 | Josh Cooper | 8 | 106 | 0 |
| 2013 | Travis Benjamin | 5 | 105 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson

