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Josh Gordon Traded to Patriots

Reaction and Prediction

By Logan M. SnyderPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Photo by Sports Illustrated 

On September 17, the Cleveland Browns agreed to a trade that sends wide receiver Josh Gordon to the New England Patriots for what will essentially be a fifth round draft pick.

On paper, this is a huge deal for the Patriots. They get a dynamic receiver who can make plays with the ball in his hands, as well as spreads the field with his speed on deep routes. The problem is, will Gordon continue to be an issue off the field like he was in college at Baylor and when he was playing for the Browns?

The Browns held him out of the game against the Saints because he said he had an injury and the Browns said he broke their trust. I’m not sure which one to believe. Cleveland is a dysfunctional organization who has made mistake after mistake since rejoining the league for the 1999 season. They have ruined plenty of players' careers by not having the right coach, not putting a supporting cast around guys, and giving up on players too quickly. Hopefully for Gordon, going to New England will do for him what it did for Randy Moss’ career.

Like Gordon, Moss’ original team, the Vikings, traded him away. Moss spent several seasons in Oakland before the Patriots traded for him. Then in New England he lit the league on fire, setting the record for touchdown catches in a single season.

Like Moss, who started his career hot, Gordon came to Cleveland and in his second season he caught 87 balls for 1,600 yards and 9 touchdowns. He was voted to the Pro Bowl and was named first team all-pro. But since then he has been suspended for smoking weed, gone to rehab and now the team gave up on him.

Now I’m not saying Josh Gordon is a Hall of Famer like Randy Moss is. The reason why I compare the two is because both of them are coming to the Patriots from bad teams, the Browns and the Raiders, and I believe with hard work Gordon can have similar success to what Moss had in his first season in New England.

Gordon is still only 27 and in the prime of his career. He could end up having his best season yet with Hall of Famer Tom Brady throwing to him. Another positive for Gordon is that in New England he will never be double teamed. The Patriots now have too many weapons to double team. With Gronkowski, Elderman coming back from suspension, Hogan and all the running backs they have, the Patriots are going to have a dangerous offense. They just need the guys to stay healthy and off the weed.

So overall I love this move for the Patriots. It gives them a top ten receiver who’s on a cheap contract with the chance to resign him going forward. If he can stay healthy and avoid suspension, the team has a definite shot at the Super Bowl with Gordon potentially making his second trip to the Pro Bowl.

On the other hand, I feel like this was a definite bad move for the Browns. Gordon had more value than just a fifth round pick but the team’s front office mismanaged the situation by announcing on Saturday that they already planned on releasing him. If they hadn’t done that, I believe they could’ve gotten either a third round pick or a second rounder. They were smart to get something for him though because he definitely wouldn’t have signed a new deal with the team.

The trade shows how the two teams are heading in different directions. The Patriots want to win and win big. The Browns don’t know what they’re doing and don’t show any interest in winning games. They will for sure be picking in the top five of the draft again next year.

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Logan M. Snyder

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