Josh Gordon is on thin ice with the Cleveland Browns. The team has made it very clear they are at a crossroads with the wide receiver, uncertain the best direction to take. Gordon started his 2014 season off with a suspension and ended it in the same fashion which has the Browns at their breaking point. If they decide to move on from the former Baylor speedster, who could potentially replace him?
The general consensus is that the Browns and Gordon are headed for a divorce. The wide receiver is a true threat on the field, but over the past two seasons he has barely been there thanks to suspensions for drug use and missing practice. Now head coach Mike Pettine is making it clear that he is tired of using the word "potential" when describing Gordon since he is never on the field to show it.
We want to take care of our own, but at the same time we're going to hold our guys accountable. I think everybody recognizes the talent that's there, but this isn't an individual sport.
"You have to be accountable to your coaching staff, you have to be accountable to your teammates, more importantly," Pettine said, via cleveland.com. "That's the thing that we have to get right with Josh. It's a better question for him, whether he wants to be here or not. We want him here, but we want him here with him being accountable, with him having the ability to function as a member of this team who's in good standing.''
According to ESPN.com, the best move for the Browns is to simply release the wide receiver and find his replacement. Gordon is a mere $600,000 cap hit. That is money Cleveland can afford to give up if it means replacing him with someone that will be there for the whole season. The Browns have options that might not cost them as much as they think.
Several big names could potentially be on the market this offseason. Mike Wallace, Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald have all had their names tossed around in trade rumors as the offseason grows closer and considering the Browns have two first-round draft picks, they could make a move from one of them. Cleveland benefited from the rise of Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel, but the suspensions to Gordon and the expiring contract of Jordan Cameron mean finding a big name to put on the field will likely be a priority.
