Josh Gordon: Browns Front Office Downright Foolish for Shopping WR

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Browns fans — don’t give up just yet.

After the Browns beat the Minnesota Vikings on a game-winning drive engineered by third string quarterback Brian Hoyer, a bit of hope arose in Cleveland. Starting quarterback Brandon Weeden was injured, giving Hoyer the nod. All he did was toss three touchdowns and throw for over 300 yards in a thrilling victory.

One of the biggest reasons for Cleveland’s success through the air that day was due to the play of wide receiver Josh Gordon who returned from a two-game suspension in week three. Catching 10 passes for 146 yards and a score, Gordon came out of the gates swinging in his first action of 2013.

Let’s rewind a little bit for a moment.

Previous to Gordon’s exciting debut, the Browns traded their best player in Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts. In a move that many thought was a white flag of surrender on the year, rumors began circling that the front office was not done moving players in efforts to stack draft picks in the coming years.

In fact, one of those players notably put on the block by Cleveland was none other than Gordon. Even a couple of days after Gordon destroyed Minnesota’s secondary, his name still remains in the trade rumors.

Although coach Rob Chudzinski texted Gordon this week telling him he isn’t going anywhere — according to NFL.com — it is hard to believe that management and ownership would be overridden by their coach.

Here’s the fact of the matter: Gordon is a 6-foot-3, 225 pound wide receiver with blazing speed and an enormous set of athletic abilities. Sure, he’s had his fair share of troubles, but at only 22 years old how is this kid one to bail on already?

Just because the team is under new ownership does not mean all the big-name players from recent drafts need to go. Trading Richardson was arguably a moronic move in the first place, but giving up Gordon would seal the deal of the front office being labeled as the joke of the NFL.

If the Browns can muster a win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, they are right back in the thick of it. For goodness sake, it’s only week four. Nobody is out of it just yet.

And, even if the Browns fall to 1-3, trading Gordon would be absolutely idiotic if they want to truly build a young and talented nucleus for the future. He’s a special kind of talent that just needs a push in the right direction. Don’t tell me you’re going to toss him out of Cleveland too, because at that moment I wouldn’t blame fans for ditching such a ridiculous organization.

Ryan Heckman is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmheckman, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.