Gordon traded to Patriots for fifth-round pick

If there is one person in the NFL who can straighten out Josh Gordon, it’s Bill Belichick. Now the New England Patriots coach has been given the chance to do it.

The Browns, fed up with the gifted, but troubled, wide receiver, on Sept. 17 traded Gordon to the Patriots two days after he reported late to the team facility in Berea with a hamstring injury that prevented him from playing the Saints.

That prompted general manager John Dorsey to announce the Browns would release Gordon on Sept. 17, and that prompted teams around the league to call Dorsey about trading for Gordon.

All the Browns could get for Gordon, who in 2013 led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards, was a 2019 fifth-round draft choice.

The Browns have to send New England a 2019 seventh-round pick if Gordon doesn’t play at least 10 games.

‘I think John got the best deal that he could get,” Coach Hue Jackson said in a conference call. “(Gordon) is gone now, and we’re going to move on and coach the team that’s here. We’re going to get ourselves ready to play this Thursday night (against the Jets). I don’t even want to comment on what could be what couldn’t have been. He’s on another team, now.”

The Browns, in a related move, signed wide receiver Rod Streater. Streater signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted rookie in 2012 — coincidentally the same year the Browns selected Gordon in the second round of the supplemental draft.

Streater has played in 36 games with the Raiders and 16 with the 49ers. He has 127 career receptions for 1,755 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“I’m glad there’s closure,” Jackson said. “I’m glad we’re in a space where we’re not thinking of those things of what could be and what could not be. We’re coaching the guys that are here and trying to win football games.”

The Patriots released another former Browns receiver, Corey Coleman, to make room on the roster for Gordon.

Gordon caught one pass for 17 yards and a touchdown in the season opener against the Steelers. After his record-setting year in 2013, he played in five games in 2014, five in 2017 and the first game in 2018. In those 11 games, he caught a total of 43 passes for 665 yards and two touchdowns.

Jackson would not detail what led to the decision to finally cut ties with Gordon. Gordon reportedly was injured late Sept. 14 at the Browns facility in a promotional shoot unrelated to the football team.

It could be suspicious the Browns said Gordon’s injury was too severe to play against the Saints but he is healthy enough to play for the Patriots.

“We made a decision as an organization, regardless what the factors were, to move forward, to sever our relationship with Josh, wish him well, and let him move on to another team,” Jackson said. “That’s as far as I want to go with that.”

Jackson disputed the notion Gordon did not want to play for the Browns.

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