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JOsh Gordon is the latest example of a calculated bet from Bill Belichick. He may be the greatest of all. The head coach of the New England Patriots has a habit of catching 24-carat players for the price of 24 carrots. The Patriots officially acquired Gordon Browns this week, in exchange for a fifth round pick. The Pats will also receive a seventh round of Cleveland.
How do other teams regularly allow New England to come out with this type of commercial witchcraft? Belichick has just acquired one of the most talented gaming leaders of this generation, or even the entire generation, for next to nothing. The trade is reminiscent of Randy Moss's agreement made by Belichick ten years ago. At the time, Moss was considered a star in trouble: he was not in Oakland and he was often injured. Belichick opted for a fourth-round pick in exchange for the Hall of Famer and New England won a 16-0 regular season, while Moss broke the record of the regular season with Brady's 23 TD.
Belichick bets do not always happen like that. Like everyone else, he was hit and missed. Moss, Corey Dillon, Aqib Talib and Darrelle Revis worked in their own way. Aaron Hernandez, Albert Haynsworth and Chad Johnson did not do it.
Each of these players came with varying degrees of luggage. Some wore diva etiquette. Others were branded distractions. Some were considered on the hill. One or two, it was said, did not like football. Hernandez's legal problems at the university were well documented. Yet Gordon is unlike anyone Belichick had to cross his door. Gordon is a Hall of Fame talent in a body of addicts. This is not your character character problem, use the language of football.
The success or failure of this agreement has nothing to do with whether or not Gordon can be part of the New England cult. It's a medical problem. The adjustment takes place in both directions. Belichick and the Patriots will have to help, support and support Gordon if they want to see him succeed.
Gordon has not played a full season in the NFL since 2012. Before the start of the 2013 season, the receiver was suspended for two games for violating the NFL's drug policy. In 2014, he was suspended for the entire season for a repeat offense. He appealed, the league reducing his suspension by a match. He missed the last game of the season due to a violation of the rules of the team. Gordon says that he lost consciousness the night before and missed the flight of the team, which is not uncommon during his days in Cleveland.
The league has suspended for the entire 2015 season for breaking the drug policy. This time it was alcohol, not marijuana. The year 2016 was canceled after the NFL refused to reinstate him. Gordon had failed another drug test. He was fully recovered in 2017. He played five games.
Concerns have been raised throughout the off season. It resulted in the announcement that Gordon would begin training camp to focus on his health and recovery. His absence was "a part of [his] health plan and overall treatment, "he said.
These are profound problems. Gordon's problems are coming back to college. In a profile with GQ, Gordon said that he had started treating himself with a cocktail of Xanax, marijuana and codeine to help cope with the "fear of traumatized teenagers". He was transferred from Baylor to Utah after breaking the rules of the team (Gordon later admitted to cheating drug testing in college). He never adapted to Utah, where he failed a drug test.
Gordon believes that he had something in his system for "probably all the games of [his] career, including those in college. He remains in Step 3 of the NFL's Substance Abuse Program, which means he is randomly screened. If he fails a test, he faces another indefinite suspension. The Patriots represent the last chance for Gordon's football career.
Cleveland finally pulled out Gordon last weekend. He was injured hamstring during a promotional event Friday night before the team leaves for the match the next day in New Orleans. There is no greater sin in the NFL than to be perceived as unreliable. The Browns had waited four full seasons and countless regimes to bring back the most talented player on their list. A match in his new relay, they were bailed out.
Naturally, Belichick jumped. This contract implicitly implies that Gordon's bad habits could infiltrate the rest of the locker room. But Belichick knows that if Gordon fails another screening test, he is suspended indefinitely from the league. He would not have time to infect the precious ecosystem of a camp. And if a player can have such an impact on your list before cutting the bait, maybe your crop is not so strong at first.
The other 31 teams seem to give Belichick the kind of respect that gives him a decided competitive edge. Bill's culture can survive that, I'm not sure ours can. What nonsense. One has the impression that Cleveland should have squeezed for more. NFL teams preach above all culture, culture and culture. Except for talent. Talent always wins.
And Gordon is an extraordinary talent. He has all the unattainable features. Gordon is as physically imposing as any other receiver on this side of Julio Jones. His agility, in and out breaks, is only rivaled by Antonio Brown. His downfield, jump ball, intuition, and go-me-go-it look on par with Dez Bryant. It is the total package.
You may think that it is hyperbole. Consider this for a minute: Gordon led the league receiving in 2014 with 1646 in just 14 games. Oh, and the quarters that started it were Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer and Brandon Weeden. Brandon Weeden! How will a defense match an attack that includes Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman (who returns from his DC suspension in Week 5) and Gordon? And then there is everything Tom Brady and the company do with their backbacks and their backbacks. Who are you doubling?
It's fair to wonder if we are ahead of ourselves. Gordon is a failed test outside the league. It's not Belichick's decision to take. Gordon looked good in his only game this season. Naturally, he was not yet at the height of his powers. And the Patriots run a complex system. This requires in-depth knowledge adverse staff, anticipation, IQ instinctive football and in-sync Communication. Gordon might take a long time to get going.
Yet, acquiring players of this talent usually requires a bag full of money or a choice of upscale draft. Belichick has just pulled one of the most devastating NFL receivers for what amounts to a robbery. And they pay him less than a million dollars, a derisory sum for a player of his talent.
Jacksonville showed last week that the Patriots can not settle for a steady diet of drummer-versus-best concepts. They need another player capable of winning face-to-face matches without the aid of clever game designs. Gordon is this guy. Adding it could be Belichick's smartest move to date.
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