CLEVELAND — If Josh Gordon hadn’t been suspended for most of his NFL career, he’d be in the midst of his second NFL contract and likely one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL.
That would’ve put him somewhere in the neighborhood of about $16 million a year, right up there with the Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown ($17 million), Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins ($16.2 million) and Cincinnati’s AJ Green ($15 million).
Instead, Gordon will play for the Browns in 2018 for the four-year veteran minimum of $790,000 as an “exclusive rights free agent.” That designation is for a player who has two or fewer accrued seasons and his contract has expired. An accrued season is one in which a player is on the roster for at least six games of the season.
A supplemental draft pick in 2012, Gordon has only two accrued seasons — in 2012 and 2013 — because of his suspensions, including for all of 2015 and 2016. But he’s classified as a four-year veteran for pension purposes because he played in at least three games in two other seasons — 2014 and 2017.
The Browns must tender the 2013 Pro Bowler the qualifying offer by the start of the league year on March 14 — which they will do — or he would become a unrestricted free agent eligible to sign with any team.
As an exclusive rights free agent, no other team can get its hands on Gordon this year. He either plays for the Browns or he sits out the season.
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Because Gordon only played five games for the Browns in 2017, the Browns retain his rights through 2019. If he plays in at least six games in 2018, he will be a restricted free agent after the season. Teams can make him an offer, and if the Browns don’t match, the new team owes the Browns draft pick compensation equal to the tender placed on the player.
If the Browns haven’t extended his contract by the start of free agency in March of 2019, the Browns would probably place a first-round tender on him, requiring the new team to surrender a first-round pick if the Browns choose not to match. For comparison’s sake, the first-round tender in 2017 came with a $3.91 million paycheck. Tender amounts for 2018 will be set soon.
If Gordon then plays at least six games in 2019, he would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after that season, providing the Browns haven’t wrapped him up to a long-term deal by then.
The bottom line is, the Browns will have one of the best receivers in the NFL — one who led the NFL with 1,646 yards in 2013 — on their roster in 2018 for less than $800,000.
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