The Cleveland Browns may look into a trade for Andre Johnson, Mike Wallace or Danny Amendola this season, as Josh Gordon has a potential yearlong suspension hanging over his head and he has an appeal hearing coming up to see how things play out and with the Texans in dispute with their WR, there is a chance he could get traded to Johnny Manziel's team.
According to Pro Football Talk, Gordon has his appeal coming up soon about his yearlong suspension and that decision will be a major factor in what happens with the Browns and Gordon in the future. Gordon's agent said last week that the appeal date hearing should be coming up at some point later this month or early next month and that he was leaving comment until the situation resolves and that he also will speak with the Browns eventually about Gordon's situation. The Browns are coming into the season with high expectations and after the breakout season for Gordon last year, everyone had high expectations for him as well.
Gordon's troubles started when news broke about his potential yearlong suspension for another drug test failure and then later in the year he was arrested for DUI. Gordon had a record breaking season in 2013 and it came with him playing in only 14 games, as he was suspended for the first two stemming from a previous drug test. Gordon put some amazing numbers, setting a career high in catches with 87 and he also led the league with over 1646 yards receiving and that also included back to back 200 yard games, a first in NFL history.
What made Gordon's season even more amazing was that the Browns had Brian Hoyer and Brandon Weeden at quarterback and coming into this season Gordon was looked at as a major part of the offense. The Browns may also look at other trades, as Danny Amendola and Mike Wallace came up earlier in the offseason, but this late into the offseason it's very unlikely trades will happen. Training camps open this week for some teams and usually most are settled and are not looking for trades.
The Browns have enough cap space to make the move, but the Texans are not really motivated to trade Johnson since they will still be on the hook on their cap for a big chunk, so they may as well keep him and hope he plays. With training camp coming up the Texans will have to make some decisions, but they appear prepared to fine and deal with Johnson off the field while they prepare for the upcoming season with new head coach Bill O'Brien. The Texans have Ryan Fitzpatrick coming in at quarterback and DeAndre Hopkins comes in after a solid rookie season and can help deal with the loss of Johnson.
The league has had a number of these issues over the past couple years and now Gordon's future could be decided by what happens with this suspension. The Browns took Gordon in the supplemental draft and while he has been trouble off the field, he could be a superstar on it if he gets his life together, as his 2013 season was fantastic for a wide receiver. The Browns are standing by and waiting on this decision and they also signed Miles Austin this offseason.
