The Cleveland Browns are again facing a significant number of question marks heading into the offseason.
Should the team bring back Brian Hoyer? Is Johnny Manziel a potential franchise quarterback? Were Manziel and cornerback Justin Gilbert wasted picks?
But there's also the question of what to do with prodigiously talented, but bafflingly bone-headed, wide receiver Josh Gordon.
Gilbert and Manziel, who joined the team this past April, still have futures in Brown - as Manziel noted, it would be totally unfair for the team that drafted them to give up on them so quickly - but Gordon may not be so lucky.
The 23-year-old receiver, who was suspended by the NFL for the first 10 games of this season for violating the league's substance abuse policy, was also suspended by the Browns for the team's Week 17 game because he - like Manziel - violated team rules.
"Clearly a disappointing way for him to end the year," Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine said of Gordon, per Marc Sessler of NFL.com. "But at the same time, Josh right now is a Cleveland Brown. We want to take care of our own, but at the same time, we're gonna hold our guys accountable. I think everybody recognizes the talent that's there, but this isn't an individual sport. You have to be accountable to your coaching staff, you have to be accountable to your teammates, more importantly."
After leading the league in receiving in 2013, amassing 87 receptions for 1,646 yards, Gordon managed only 24 catches for 303 yards and no touchdowns in this suspension-shortened season.
The mercurial receiver's talent is undeniable, but so is his propensity to make or find trouble.
"That's the thing that we have to get (right) with Josh," said Pettine. "It's not the ability. At some point, you get tired of using the word potential. So this offseason for him puts him squarely at a crossroads for us."
