Josh Gordon won’t be riding to the rescue of the Browns anytime soon.
A source said Thursday the NFL denied the reinstatement petition of the suspended wide receiver, but he can reapply in the fall. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, did not know the specific date this fall on which Gordon could file for reinstatement again.
USA Today first reported Gordon’s bid for re-entering the league had been rejected. Gordon applied for reinstatement on March 1, his business manager, Michael Johnson, told ESPN then.
Gordon, a 2013 All-Pro selection, has missed 43 of the past 48 games because of recurring violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy. He hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since Dec. 21, 2014, and it’s unknown whether Commissioner Roger Goodell will ever reinstate him.
BleacherReport.com reported Gordon spoke to Goodell in the past few days and was told to reapply for reinstatement in September.
This isn’t the first time Gordon, 26, has been turned down by the NFL while trying to resume his football career.
A previous petition was denied in April 2016. Three months later, the NFL reinstated Gordon on a conditional basis and gave him a four-game suspension to begin the regular season.
Gordon was close to returning from that suspension and playing for the Browns on Oct. 9 against the New England Patriots when he announced Sept. 29 he would instead step away from his comeback attempt to enter inpatient rehabilitation.
His third known trip to rehab lasted 30 days and began on the heels of him becoming entangled in a paternity case. Later, a DNA test showed he is the father of a Maple Heights girl.
In March, ESPN reported Gordon had been training under former Olympian sprinter-turned-speed coach Tim Montgomery in an effort to resurrect his career.
But last month, Gordon generated headlines for more off-field drama. News surfaced about him being sued by a Lake County woman who’s trying to establish paternity and child support for her 2-year-old.
When Gordon left the Browns in September, the organization gave every indication it planned to part ways with him.
“I think what we need to do is just close that chapter right now,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said Sept. 30. “He’s doing what he needs to do, and we need to do what we need to do, which is continue to move forward.
“Obviously, Josh is not here and doing what he thinks he needs to do for his life, which we support 100 percent. And I think after today, today is really the last Josh Gordon comment I want to make about that. I think what’s best for our football team is that we move forward and move on. He’s not going to be with us, and we wish him well. But we’re moving forward. We’re going to move on.”
But in March at the NFL owners meetings, head of football operations Sashi Brown acknowledged Gordon’s elite skills would still entice every team in the league, including the Browns.
“Josh, assuming that he’d play at the level we started to see glimpses of last preseason and certainly when he was in the league before, would be a talent I think no team in the NFL would turn down if he got back in,” Brown said. “Our decision with Josh is just understanding where he is in his process and being able to add him.
“But we’re not in a position at wide receiver to turn down a guy like Josh if we feel like he’s settled himself. Now, that’s a separate question, but Josh is going to have an opportunity to reapply to the NFL, and at that time, we’ll make a decision when we know what’s going on.”
Brown’s comments, though, might have been trade bait. The Browns wanted to deal Gordon’s rights last year before the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 1. If he were reinstated this year, the Browns would hold his rights through the 2018 season. He would be a restricted free agent after the 2017 season and an unrestricted free agent after the 2018 season.
Further complicating the matter, Gordon no longer has an agent because Joby Branion ended their business relationship a couple of weeks ago, according to reports. Branion became Gordon’s agent earlier this year after agent Drew Rosenhaus stopped representing him.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns.