Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended to start the 2014 season — he ended up missing the first 10 games after the NFL revised its drug policy — and was suspended indefinitely after it ended for consuming alcohol. In between, he played five games before he was again suspended for the Browns’ regular season finale after he missed the team’s walk-through the day before.
Gordon and the NFL Players’ Association seem to be most perturbed about that one-game suspension, and for good reason: It could cost him millions. Now the union has filed a grievance on Gordon’s behalf with the league.
Here’s the rub: By missing out on that one last game, Gordon was prevented from playing in his sixth game of the season, which is the minimum for it to count as an accrued season under the collective bargaining agreement. Thus, Gordon will not be able to become an unrestricted free agent until after the 2017 season if the one-game suspension holds up (he almost certainly won’t be playing in 2015 because of the current indefinite suspension, which cannot be appealed to the league).
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has more on Gordon’s argument:
Gordon’s camp will argue that other players on the Browns repeatedly broke team rules and were not suspended. They will cite year-long transgressions by both [Johnny] Manziel and No. 8 overall pick Justin Gilbert.
Gilbert was actually benched for the finale for being late to a team meeting the night before, but it was too late to officially suspend him for the game. Afterwards, coach Mike Pettine said he was suspended for all intents and purposes. Manziel was on injured reserve at the time of his oversleeping incident, which followed a late night of partying.
A league source told NEOMG that Gordon’s camp will also likely argue that the Browns looked for reasons to suspend Gordon so they could retain his rights through 2017.
Cabot also points out that the Browns could receive more in trade for Gordon if the other team knows it will have him under contract through 2017, and at a relatively cheap price for a player who led the league in receiving yards in 2013: Gordon is scheduled to make $1.068 million annually over the final two years of his contract.
After spending the first 17 years of his Post career writing and editing, Matt and the printed paper had an amicable divorce in 2014. He's now blogging and editing for the Early Lead and the Post's other Web-based products.
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