The Cleveland Browns appear to be having some serious issues with their young stars. In addition to Johnny Manziel getting fined by the team for being late to his injury treatment, Josh Gordon has been suspended for the final game of the season.
ESPN’s Pat McManamon reports that — like Manziel — Gordon was missing from the Browns facility on Saturday morning. The team supposedly had trouble locating both Gordon and Manziel the night after Manziel threw a party that some teammates attended. Gordon was later suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules.
One report indicates that the Browns had to send team security officials to Manziel’s house to find him on Saturday morning. That same report claims that several members of the Browns organization feel that Gordon “has to go.” Here’s more from Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com:
Gordon “has to go,” according to several members of the organization, with his drug suspensions and lax behavior a growing problem and something they are concerned could rub off on young players on the roster. Of course, it remains to be seen if Browns owner Jimmy Haslam will be willing to take reduced compensation for the diminishing asset, after being enthralled by Gordon’s breakthrough 2012 campaign.
Gordon has superior athletic talent but is a failed drug test away from having his career back in jeopardy and with another long offseason looming, expect the Browns to try to reap whatever little compensation they can get for him and move on.
The Browns were a borderline playoff team this season, and distractions like these aren’t going to help them continue to improve. From the sound of it, Gordon is gone. And if Manziel doesn’t start doing what he recently claimed he will, he might not be far behind.
