This isn’t a drill people. It finally happened. Josh Gordon is now officially a New England Patriot, according to Adam Schefter:
Trade now agreed to: Patriots are sending Cleveland a 5th-round pick and if Gordon isn't active for 10 games, Patriots get back a late-round pick from Browns, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 17, 2018
As @rapsheet reported, Patriots were closing in on trade for Gordon.
Trade now official.
Wow. I don’t know where to begin! When the Browns first announced that they were going to release Josh Gordon Sunday I joked on twitter that he was the Browns receiver the Patriots should go after, not Corey Coleman, never dreaming that the Patriots would actually make any sort of moves to acquire Gordon. Gordon isn’t exactly the type of player the Patriots tend to add to their roster.
Gordon is an immensely talented wide receiver but has had well-documented struggles staying on the field both due to drug usage and general enthusiasm about the game of football. Despite being in the league seven years, Gordon has only played in 41 NFL games out of the possible 112.
But never forget just how dominate a healthy—both mentally and physically—and focused Josh Gordon can be. In 2013, by far his best season, Gordon led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,646 on 87 catches with nine touchdowns. That year he caught passes from the Hall of Fame collection of Jason Campbell, Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer. Just imagine what he can do with Tom Brady.
Fantasy advice time: get Gordon wherever, however you can. I don’t recommend playing him right away and it may be a couple of weeks before he has a serious role in the Patriots offense, but there is potential here for this offense to be more explosive than we could possibly image. Brady hasn’t had a receiver like Gordon since Randy Moss and Gordon has never played with a quarterback as good as Brady nor in an offense with as many weapons as New England has.
Now I will be the first to say, all of this excitement and potential rides on the Patriots being able to get Gordon in an environment which he can be his best self, and that is a big if. You can bet though Bill Belichick and the Patriots are hoping to pull a Moss and give Gordon a strong, supportive environment where he can thrive both on the football field and off.