Josh Gordon Trade Rumors: Latest News, Speculation Around Browns WR

The NFL reinstated Cleveland Browns star Josh Gordon this offseason, and a number of teams are reportedly expressing interest in trading for the wideout.

Continue for updates.

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Browns Head of Football Operations Comments on Trade Rumors

Thursday, Aug. 25

Browns head of Football Operations Sashi Brown responded to reports the team was contemplating a Gordon trade, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"

I'm just not going to enter into any of the speculation. I understand what the interest is in Josh. There are literally hundreds of conversations going around the league about players all the time, and if we got into speculating about all the reports, about what could be going on and what conversations could be going on, we'd be here for a much longer time than we have.

"

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Cole: Multiple GMs Would Give Up Conditional 6th at Best for Gordon

Wednesday, Aug. 24

Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported on the likely return the Browns could get for Gordon:

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Gordon Comments on Trade Rumors

Tuesday, Aug. 23

“I haven’t heard too much about it,” Gordon said when asked about the possibility of being traded, per Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland. “Cleveland is my team. That’s where I want to be, everything like that. That’s not even in the ballpark for me. I’m not sure how that works.”

Gordon added:

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I think it works out perfectly then for me. Mr. [Jimmy] Haslam, the organization, Coach [Hue] Jackson, I think the world of those guys, this city, this organization. They're family. They’re showing me the love and respect back to me by allowing me to stay here up to this point.

I expect to move forward with that. I’m excited about it. This is where I want to be and I’m happy to be with Cleveland.

"

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Browns Not Looking to Deal Gordon

Tuesday, Aug. 23

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that a market has been forming for Gordon's services:

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Gordon Appears Poised for Big Season with Browns 

Gordon, 25, last played in the NFL in 2014, registering 24 receptions for 303 yards in five games. He was phenomenal the year before, however, leading the league with 1,646 receiving yards while nabbing 87 passes and totaling nine touchdowns in 14 games.

Off-field issues have kept him sidelined, however, as he was suspended for the entire 2015 season. He'll also be suspended for the first four games of this season, though Jackson expects him to be a major contributor when he returns.

"It's important for him to be out there with those guys," Jackson told Cabot regarding Gordon participating in training camp with the first-team offense. "It's important for him to be with the ones because I think he's going to be one of our better players. We have to put him out there and see what he is capable of doing."

Jackson added:

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What's important is that I don't really know him yet as a football player. I'm learning and I need to see what he's able to do. He's talented, obviously. The more I can see him and feel him before because he'll be away and not able to do that, the more I can understand when he gets back and he can hit the ground running the right way.

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Although he was only recently activated, Gordon has already impressed his teammates.

"He still looks the exact same and it's just crazy," teammate Joe Haden said, per Cabot. "He looks a little bigger. I don't know how that happened, but he's still out there running around, looking the same, running his routes, floating. It still looks effortless."

Gordon's ability means he has the potential to be one of the NFL's best receivers, which he proved in 2013, so the Browns are perhaps hesitant to trade him. Cleveland would be selling low on a player who has been suspended multiple times for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. 

But if Gordon hits the ground running when he returns and stays out of trouble, he'll be Cleveland's most dynamic offensive weapon. Keeping him is a gamble, given his past, but so is trading him when his value is so low.

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