The Cleveland Browns haven't had much luck in terms of personnel decisions in recent seasons - Brady Quinn was a failure of a first-rounder and Brandon Weeden was, inexplicably, both older and worse. Johnny Manziel is, well, Johnny Manziel. Justin Gilbert is, well, Justin Gilbert - though recent reports on both suggest they may have managed to remove their heads from the snug confines of their own behinds. Barkevious Mingo has become a good, not great, player to this point in his NFL career, despite his high draft pedigree and explosive potential. as he's struggled to stay healthy and Phil Taylor has failed to develop into the dominant nose tackle the Browns hoped he'd become.
In short, the Browns struggles in recent years can pretty directly be pointed back to their failings in the draft and free agency.
One player the team hit an absolute homerun with via the supplemental draft, but who has since fallen about as far from grace as possible, is wide receiver Josh Gordon.
Gordon, currently serving a minimum one-year suspension, has remained close to the team during his NFL-mandated time away from football.
"With Josh, he's hanging in there,'' Drew Rosenhaus said recently, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. "He's biding his time. It's a difficult process and it's meant to be difficult obviously. But I've got faith in him and he'll get through this tough time and he still has a very bright future in the NFL in my opinion.''
While it's not surprising that Gordon's notoriously slippery and slimy agent would remain high on his NFL future despite a string of suspensions and poor, immature behavior, Gordon is just 24 and not that far removed from a 2013 season in which he posted 87 receptions for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns.
Gordon's absence forced the Browns to sign veteran free agent Dwayne Bowe this offseason and will only serve to further hamper the efforts of Manziel, or much more likely, Josh McCown as they attempt to lead the Cleveland offense next season.
While Gordon won't be a part of that effort, per Rosenhaus, the Houston native has spent this offseason in Cleveland in order to remain close to the team.
That choice has not been lost on Gordon's teammates, who his agent believes still hold the mercurial receiver in very high regard.
"The players on this team really care about Josh,'' Rosenhaus said. "Joe Haden's been great to him and so have all of his friends on the team. That's really meant a lot to Josh during this difficult time.''
Haden, who was hosting the Joe Haden & Friends softball game at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio on Saturday, said that he's done his best this offseason to help Gordon keep focused and keep his chin up.
"I just try to keep him positive,'' Haden said. "When you're out for the year, you can't be too excited at all. I'm just trying to be there for him, just trying to keep him on a positive note."
Perhaps a year away from football and an NFL paycheck will change Gordon's off-field habits. Perhaps not. But there's simply no doubting the Browns are a much better team with the big wideout on the field.
