Jon Gruden has been looking everywhere for a wide receiver to replace Antonio Brown. The trades for Trevor Davis and Zay Jones were a couple of shots in the dark, but neither are players considered to have significant upside.
The Raiders seem to be content with the receivers on the roster (how many can you trade for in one season?), but they may soon have to consider one more move.
Josh Gordon was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday and it sounds like the expectation is that the Patriots will give him an injury settlement in the days ahead, which would make him eligible to sign with another team. Gordon is apparently close to being healthy again, so it’s a little surprising that the Patriots pulled the plug on him, but the addition of Mohamed Sanu obviously had something to do with the move. The rumor is Belichick has been trying to trade for Sanu for years.
Another theory is something else going on with Gordon that motivated the Patriots to be so aggressive in replacing him. But whatever the case, it seemed like Gordon was surprised to learn that he was released today.
If the Raiders do have an opportunity to sign Gordon and are interested in signing him, he would certainly return an element to Gruden’s offense that has been missing since Brown’s decision to pursue a career in social and legal drama over football. Gordon is only 28 and still has plenty of gas in the tank – so much that he is reportedly running 22 MPH even as he is recovering from his knee injury.
Albert Breer on Twitter
Source says Patriots WR Josh Gordon expects to be medically cleared soon, and that his knee injury is “minor”. I was told he ran 22 MPH on the treadmill during a rehab session today. Once he’s cleared, he hopes to be released off of IR and sign with a new team.
Considering he shouldn’t cost much money to sign, why wouldn’t the Raiders take a hard look at Gordon?
Oakland would probably be a landing spot Gordon would consider based on the talent (or lack thereof) in the Raiders receiver room and Gruden is never truly satisfied without another veteran on the roster… so why not add an elite talent like Gordon?
twitter: @raidersbeat
