Source: Suspended Gordon signs Patriots tender
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon, who currently is serving an indefinite NFL suspension, officially signed his restricted free-agent tender on Tuesday, a league source told ESPN’s Field Yates.
This means that if Gordon is reinstated, he would be under contract with the Patriots for 2019 and scheduled to earn a base salary of $2.025 million.
The 28-year-old Gordon played in 11 games for the Patriots during the 2018 regular season, totaling 40 receptions for 720 yards and three touchdowns. He was suspended on Dec. 20 for violating the terms of his reinstatement under the league’s substance abuse policy, missing the team’s final two regular-season games and all three playoff games.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had been asked about Gordon’s status in late March at the league’s annual meeting.
“The first thing right now is to focus on Josh himself as a young man, and what he needs to do to get his life on the right track. That’s what our focus is. We have resources supporting that, and that’s our hope — to make sure he gets on the right track,” Goodell said. “Once he gets on the right track, we’ll get to that place. But I think right now, he has had a complete focus on ‘I have to get myself all cleared in the right place before I can get back on the field.'”
The Patriots are currently thin at receiver, with Super Bowl LIII Most Valuable Player Julian Edelman atop the depth chart, followed by Phillip Dorsett, Demaryius Thomas, Braxton Berrios, Bruce Ellington, Maurice Harris and Damoun Patterson.