Josh Gordon Must Be at the Top of the San Francisco 49ers' Wish List

While Trent Baalke is searching for assistant coaches to fill Jim Tomsula's coaching staff and also preparing for the upcoming draft, there is one extremely important thing he must do.

Baalke and the 49ers must make a deal to acquire Josh Gordon. Yes, Gordon has had several off-field problems and there is a risk involved. However, there is no receiver available in the draft that has Gordon's ability.

In addition, other potential free-agent options, such as Dez Bryant, Jeremy Maclin and Demaryius Thomas will be far too expensive for the 49ers.

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The 49ers are expected to be roughly $9 million over the projected cap, and that's not counting Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Chris Culliver or Perrish Cox, who are all free agents. The 49ers should make every effort to retain Gore and Culliver but also need to make some drastic cuts to even do that.

The lack of a wide receiver to stretch the field has long been a problem in San Francisco. Gordon would solve that problem. Hopefully, Gordon has matured and positive role models like Anquan Boldin, Patrick Willis, Joe Staley, Antoine Bethea and NaVorro Bowman would benefit the mercurial receiver.

In addition, if the 49ers retain Gore and Justin Smith opts to return, they will also provide stability and leadership for Gordon to latch onto.

Gordon's skills cannot be debated. He is an outstanding talent and would be a huge addition to the 49ers offense. In 2013, Gordon caught 87 passes for a league-high 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns. Gordon had an 18.9 yards-per-catch average and his 117.6 yards-per-game also led the league.

The 2014 season was virtually a total loss for Gordon. He was suspended for the first 10 games of the year for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

If that weren't enough, the Cleveland Browns suspended Gordon for the last game of the year for a violation of team rules. Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer tweeted that Gordon apparently missed a team walk-through.

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Gordon played in only five games this past season, catching 24 passes for 303 yards. He has worn out his welcome in Cleveland and could be had for the right deal. This is something that Baalke must find a way to accomplish.

With the 49ers under severe salary-cap pressure, Gordon, who turns 24 in April, has a very team-friendly contract for the 2015 season.

Spotrac.com has Gordon making a base salary of just over $1 million. He will be restricted free agent following the 2015 season. This gives the 49ers some time to get to know Gordon and determine if he is worthy of an extension.

Granted there is a risk in making a deal for Gordon, but he is by far the best solution to the 49ers' needs at wide receiver. It may require a lot of monitoring and attention paid to Gordon off the field to keep him out of trouble, but it is a risk worth taking.

With the very strong competition in the NFC West, the 49ers need to make a bold move to compete against the likes of Seattle, Arizona and even an up-and-coming Rams team. If they fail to make some kind of statement move such as this, it is entirely possible the 49ers could find themselves in last place in the NFC West in 2015.

All stats courtesy of pro-football-reference.com.