Identifying Top WR Targets for Browns in Wake of Josh Gordon Suspension

The hammer fell.

As Andrew Gribble of the Cleveland Browns website reported, the NFL has suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon for at least one year for yet another violation of the league's substance policy.

The team released a statement:

"

As we have conveyed, we are disappointed to once again be at this point with Josh. Throughout his career we have tried to assist him in getting support like we would with any member of our organization," Browns general manager Ray Farmer said. "Unfortunately our efforts have not resonated with him. It is evident that Josh needs to make some substantial strides to live up to the positive culture we are trying to build this football team upon. Our hope is that this suspension affords Josh the opportunity to gain some clarity in determining what he wants to accomplish moving forward and if he wants a career in the National Football League. We will have no further comment on Josh as he will not be permitted in our facility for the duration of his suspension.

"

Of course, part of that disappointment stems from the fact that for a second straight season the floundering Browns are left with a wide receiver corps precariously short on talent.

Last year, the Browns didn't know until after free agency that Gordon would miss the season's first 10 games. Even then, the team did little in the 2014 NFL draft to address that absence.

This year there's more advance notice and hopefully a more aggressive plan to compensate for Gordon's inability to stay out of trouble.

Assuming that's the case, here's a handful of players the Browns should look to target.

Michael Crabtree

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

You aren't going to see Dez Bryant on this list. Or Demaryius Thomas. Or Randall Cobb.

Yes, with nearly $50 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap, the Browns have more than enough wiggle room to offer this year's top free-agent wideouts a lucrative deal.

However, assuming for a moment that any of those players were to actually leave their respective playoff teams (not likely), the odds that they'd do so for the NFL's armpit aren't very good.

It's unfortunate, but that's where we're at with Cleveland at this point.

If there's a player among this year's free-agent wide receivers who both has the talent to potentially serve as a No. 1 receiver and the inclination to actually hear the Browns out, it's probably Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers.

The 27-year-old Crabtree, like most of the San Francisco offense, struggled in 2014, managing fewer than 700 receiving yards and setting a career low in yards per catch.

However, it wasn't that long ago (2012) that Crabtree topped 1,100 receiving yards, and given all the turmoil in the Bay Area this year, Crabtree may be looking for a fresh start.

If part of that fresh start includes a bucket full of money, the Browns could be in play.

Kenny Britt

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Stop groaning, Browns fans.

I'm going to break out some harsh realities here.

The perception of the Cleveland Browns across much of the NFL is that the organization is a joke. Coaches and front offices rotate more often in Cleveland than in a game of musical chairs.

Add in arguably the worst quarterback situation in the league, and the only thing the Browns have to offer prospective free agents is lots of cap space. Lord knows winning's off the table, at least in the short term.

As a fan, it doesn't make me happy either. But it's true.

With the top free agents unlikely to sign in Cleveland, if the Browns want to upgrade at the position via that route it's going to take some bargain-bin shopping, much like last year.

Granted, given all the headaches Kenny Britt gave the Tennessee Titans during his five years in Nashville, the 26-year-old might seem an odd choice for the Browns.

However, Britt kept his nose clean in St. Louis last year, catching 48 passes for 748 yards and three scores for the Rams.

Britt also made it clear to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that given his choice he'd prefer to stay in the Gateway City:

"

I definitely want to come back here. This is a young team. It's a great young team. They've just scratched the surface on what their abilities could be. They're growing each day, and they're growing each year. I've only been here one year, so to see how they've grown from OTAs to now is just amazing. So I want to see 'em grow even more. I hope I can be a part of that.

"

Of course, there's no telling if that feeling is mutual, and while Britt carries durability risks in addition to his checkered past, the six-year veteran also has more upside than most of the second-tier free agents at his position.

Britt is also very much a vertical threat (15.6 yards per catch over his career), an area in which the Browns are sorely lacking with Gordon in timeout.

Cecil Shorts

Gary McCullough/Associated Press

I said, STOP GROANING!

Yes, the next time Cecil Shorts of the Jacksonville Jaguars makes it through a 16-game season will be the first time. The 27-year-old has missed time in each of his four NFL seasons, including three games in 2014.

Yes, Shorts has never topped 1,000 yards in a season, although he came within 21 yards during his breakout 2012 season. No, Shorts isn't a No. 1 receiver in the NFL by any stretch.

However, Shorts is a vertical threat, an area in which the Browns have a need with Gordon on the shelf. He has Ohio roots, having grown up minutes from the Browns stadium and having played collegiately at Mount Union. And, the Jaguars' glut of young receivers (especially if Justin Blackmon is reinstated) should mean a better than average chance Shorts will be changing mailing addresses this spring.

In fact, according to Steve Doerschuk of CantonRep.com, there have already been grumblings linking Shorts to the Browns:

"

If Gordon stays — and maybe even more so if he doesn't — Shorts looms as a attractive addition on multiple levels.

• He has been productive in four years with the Jaguars despite an unstable quarterback situation.

• He has the profile to be an effective No. 2 behind Gordon and the personality to be a good influence.

• Cleveland is home. About 200 friends and family came to watch him play in a 2013 game in which he beat Joe Haden to score the winning touchdown. He played high school ball at Collinwood, about eight miles from the Browns' stadium.

"

Grumbling, groaning, whatever.

Sometimes it isn't about what you want. It's about what you can get.

DeVante Parker

Garry Jones/Associated Press

So the free-agent pickings aren't likely to be great for the Browns this year? So what?

Just like last year, the Browns have a pair of first-round picks in 2015, thanks to the trade that enabled the Buffalo Bills to draft Sammy Watkins.

OK, NOW you can groan.

Given all the rookie wide receivers who made huge NFL dents in 2014, finding a young pass-catcher with one of those selections should be easy-peasy, no?

Well, no.

Unfortunately, this year's crop of talent at wideout is nothing near last year's loaded class. You know, the class Cleveland should have drafted a receiver from with, oh, I don't know, that second first-round pick.

You may groan again.

That doesn't mean the cupboard's completely bare in this year's draft class though. In the post-Super Bowl seven-round mock draft (a must-read) recently penned here at Bleacher Report by NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller, Miller has the Browns looking at a receiver with pick No. 12:

"

DeVante Parker is too-often forgotten in this wide receiver class. He's 6'3", 210 pounds and has shown excellent hands in traffic, ability to control his body in the air and on the ground, and the speed to run past defenders at the college level. Parker did miss time in his senior season with a foot injury, but he ended the season on a high note and is NFL-ready from Day 1.

"

It's the "NFL-ready" part of the Louisville star's resume that sounds especially appealing in Northern Ohio right about now.

Devin Smith

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Twice in the past five years, the Cleveland Browns have had a pair of first-round picks in the NFL draft.

Given how the Browns did in those drafts (Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden in 2012, Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel last year), it's not a huge stretch to imagine the team finding a new and exciting way to drive fans insane in 2015.

However, even if the first day of the 2015 NFL draft leaves Browns fans with heartburn but without a new receiver, all is not lost—thanks to the potential for some home cooking.

The Browns have a long history of acquiring players who attended The Ohio State University, and it's not hard to understand why. The Buckeyes are a steady pipeline of NFL-caliber talent, and the marketing angle in football-crazed Ohio doesn't hurt.

This year that could lead the Browns to take a look at Buckeyes speedster Devin Smith, who would certainly fill the need for a deep threat.

In fact, Smith led all FBS wideouts in yards per catch in 2014—at a staggering 28.2 yards per grab.

Granted, as Dane Brugler of CBS Sports wrote, Smith is far from a sure thing:

"

Frustrating prospect because he shows the striding speed to stretch the field, but also inconsistent tracking skills, which makes him late to adjust and leads to focus drops. Aside from go routes downfield, he is unproven as a route-runner. His speed is mostly straight-line and his lean frame looks near maxed out.

"

However, very few Day 2 picks are sure things. If they were they'd be Day 1 picks.

And maybe some of that championship mojo from Smith's time in Columbus will follow him to Cleveland.

Right now the Browns could use all the mojo they can get.