Browns deal Gordon to Patriots; Wentz cleared for return

Josh Gordon’s strange, stuttering career will start anew in New England.

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have a new offensive toy.

The Browns severed ties for good with the problematic wide receiver by trading him to the Patriots for a fifthround draft pick on Monday, ending a relationship the team did all it could to save. The deal came together two days after the Browns reached a breaking point with Gordon, who has been suspended numerous times by the NFL for drug violations since being drafted in 2012.

“He is gone now,” coach Hue Jackson said.

Gordon played in the Browns’ season opener against Pittsburgh, but he reported to the team on Saturday with an unexplained hamstring injury after practicing all week. The Browns decided to leave him behind when they traveled to New Orleans, and later said they intended to release him.

However, Cleveland general manager John Dorsey found there was a crowded market for him and worked out the swap with New England, which will also get a seventh-round pick.

The Browns have been supportive of Gordon, but felt betrayed and decided it was time to move on.

“We’ve done all we can do for Josh,” said Jackson, who didn’t provide any specifics about Gordon’s issues over the weekend. “We tried to provide the right environment. It just didn’t work out. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery.”

Gordon has played in just 11 games since 2013 because of his off-field issues.

Still, he’s regarded among his peers as one of the game’s most talented players.

“I think it’s obviously known that he’s a freakish athlete,” Patriots receiver Phillip Dorsett said moments after the trade became official. “We see what he does when he’s on the field.”

He’s joining one of the most stable and successful organizations in pro sports, and Gordon has financial motivations to produce. He’s making $790,000 this season — a relatively low figure among star receivers — and if he stays clean and catches the ball, he could cash in as a restricted free agent after the season.

Meantime, the Browns released wayward kicker Zane Gonzalez on Monday after his four misses on Sunday in New Orleans cost Cleveland a possible first win since 2016.

Gonzalez was replaced by rookie free agent Greg Joseph, one of several kickers to work out for the Browns following Sunday’s kicking calamity. Joseph was with the Dolphins during training camp and preseason, but he was beaten out for the starting job by Jason Sanders.

Eagles: Quarterback Carson Wentz was cleared to return and is slated to start against Indianapolis in Week 3. Wentz tore his left ACL and LCL on Dec. 10, 2017, in a game against the Rams and had surgery three days later.

Backup quarterback Nick Foles led the Eagles to their first NFL title since 1960 and was Super Bowl MVP in the 41-33 victory over New England.

“I was impressed with how well he attacked his rehab throughout the offseason,” coach Doug Pederson said Monday. “He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and he’s ready to go.”

Wentz won’t have wide receiver Mike Wallace to target. Wallace broke his fibula in the first quarter Sunday at Tampa Bay and will miss several weeks. Wentz probably won’t have top receiver Alshon Jeffery, either. He’s been sidelined since having offseason shoulder surgery and Pederson said Jeffery is week to week.

Vikings: Rather than hoping Daniel Carlson could refocus after missing all three of his field goal attempts in the tie game at Green Bay, the Vikings waived the rookie and punted on the fifthround draft pick they used on him five months ago.

Two of Carlson’s misses came in overtime on Sunday, forcing the Vikings to settle for a 29-29 draw with the rival Packers.

The Vikings didn’t immediately add a replacement for Carlson, but coach Mike Zimmer confirmed that free agent Dan Bailey was making his way to Minnesota for a physical. That made it all but certain the Vikings will sign Bailey, the second-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. The 30-year-old was released by the Cowboys right before the regular season began in a cost-saving move following his injury-influenced regression in 2017.

Bills: How’s that for a halftime adjustment? While the rest of the Bills jogged into the locker room at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Chargers, cornerback Vontae Davis jogged in, then just kept on going.

He quit at halftime — a jaw-dropping decision that left his teammates and coaches shaking their heads.

“Pulled himself out of the game. He communicated to us that he was done,” coach Sean McDermott said after the Bills fell 31-20.

Later, Davis posted on Twitter that he was, in fact, calling it a career.

“This isn’t how I pictured retiring from the NFL,” he wrote. “But today on the field, reality hit me and hard. I shouldn’t be out there anymore.”

Meantime, running back LeSean McCoy has been diagnosed with damage to his rib cartilage, leaving his status uncertain for Buffalo’s game at Minnesota on Sunday.

McDermott listed McCoy day to day, and didn’t rule him out from playing. Chris Ivory and Marcus Murphy serve as McCoy’s backups.

Jaguars: Will be without left tackle Cam Robinson for the rest of the season because of a knee injury. Robinson, a second-round draft pick from Alabama in 2017, injured his left knee in the first quarter of Sunday’s 31-20 victory against New England and left the locker room on crutches.

Coach Doug Marrone and teammates confirmed Monday that Robinson’s season is over. Fourth-year pro Josh Wells will replace him in the starting lineup.

Falcons: Coach Dan Quinn disputed a report that running back Devonta Freeman will be out for as long as three weeks with a knee injury, saying Freeman is day to day.

Freeman injured his right knee in a Week 1 loss to the Eagles and didn’t play in Sunday’s victory over Carolina.

ESPN reported that Freeman will miss two to three weeks with a contusion, which would rule him out of next weekend’s NFC South matchup against the Saints.

Late Sunday

(At) Cowboys 20, Giants 13: Dak Prescott was the first quarterback to get a good look at the Dallas defense this year — every day during training camp in California.

Eli Manning might now agree with his counterpart that this unit can lead the Cowboys in 2018.

The two-time Super Bowl winner from the New York Giants was sacked six times in a second straight strong performance from the Dallas defenders, and the Cowboys avoided their first 0-2 start in seven seasons under coach Jason Garrett.

“It wasn’t always fun going against this defense in Oxnard,” Prescott said after throwing a 64-yard touchdown pass to Tavon Austin to spark the Cowboys on the third play of the game. “They destroyed practices. They got after me in training camp and I knew they would get after the opposing quarterback. They definitely did.”