Browns Trade Wide Receiver Josh Gordon to Patriots for 2019 5th Round Draft Pick
The Patriots have acquired an All-Pro receiving target to play alongside tight end Rob Gronkowski and catch passes from Tom Brady by trading with the Browns for wide receiver Josh Gordon.
The deal was first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
According to Schefter, New England will send Cleveland a fifth-round pick, but if Gordon is not active for 10 games, the Browns will send back a late-round pick.
In order to make room for Gordon on the roster, ESPN's Field Yates reports that the Patriots will cut wide reciever Corey Coleman.
Cleveland's decision to move on from Gordon came at the end of last week shortly after it was announced he would not play in the team's Week 2 game against the Saints. Gordon spent much of the preseason dealing with hamstring issues, and that was the reason he was inactive for Sunday, however it was reported he got injured doing a promotional shoot.
Gordon had an MRI on his hamstring and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that it came out fine and he will be eligible to play in Week 3.
After initially saying they would cut Gordon on Monday, the Browns decided to take advantage of the market and find a trade partner.
New England is thin at wide receiver and will be without Julian Edelman for two more games as he finishes serving his four-game suspension for violating the league's performance enhancing drug policy.
The Patriots are 1-1 after losing Sunday to the Jaguars 31-20.
In the six years since Gordon was taken in the second round of the supplemental draft he has played in just 41 games. In 2013, he led the NFL with 1,646 yards to go with nine touchdowns as he earned a spot on the All-Pro roster. Since then, Gordon's career has been plagued by suspensions and concerns over drug use as he missed the entire 2015 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
This season Gordon has one catch, and it was the game-tying touchdown in the Browns' season-opening tie against the Steelers.
