Latest On Bungled A.J. McCarron Trade
The Bengals and Browns had a deal in place to send A.J. McCarron to Cleveland, but the trade did not go through. More came out as to why McCarron is still in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Ohio’s NFL teams discussed this deal throughout the day, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports, with a source informing the Browns-embedded reporter it wasn’t certain the Browns wanted to complete the deal — one that would have sent McCarron to Cleveland for second- and third-round picks.
The Browns agreed to the Bengals’ terms just before the deadline, but several sources confirmed to Cabot Adam Schefter of ESPN.com’s report of the Browns not getting the necessary paperwork to the league in time. Separate emailed agreements to the league constitute a trade, and Cabot reports the Browns’ signed document didn’t go to the league in time. (The Browns’ subsequent request to get the NFL to allow the trade failed.)
A source also informed Cabot the Browns emailed a signed trade agreement to the Bengals, expecting them to sign it and send it to the NFL. But a Bengals spokesman said, per Cabot, the team never received said email.
This stands to add to the discord between the front office and the coaching staff, because Hue Jackson pushed for this trade, Cabot reports. The second-year Browns coach made McCarron a priority target in the offseason after he realized his team wasn’t going to offer enough to pry Jimmy Garoppolo away from the Patriots. And Jackson was again behind a McCarron deal on Tuesday, with Cabot reporting the head coach wanted a veteran capable of winning games while mentoring DeShone Kizer.
McCarron, who went 2-1 as a starter in 2015 before starting in a wild-card loss to the Steelers, is under team control for two more years. But the fourth-year player is fighting for UFA status in hopes of reaching the market and becoming a potential starting option for a team in 2018. The 27-year-old quarterback has thrown just 119 NFL passes, but he worked with Jackson for two years prior to the coach leaving for the Browns’ HC job.
This certainly sends a signal the team doesn’t believe it can be in position to win many games with its current quarterback setup, which is understandable for a Browns operation that’s 1-23 since the new regime took over.
A McCarron addition would seemingly help the Jackson-led team win games this season, but it would not exactly be in line with the front office’s way of thinking. The Browns have made acquiring draft choices a priority, and the team giving up two Day 2 selections for a stopgap-type quarterback would seemingly constitute a change in organizational philosophy.
As it stands now, McCarron will be an RFA this offseason. He has an obvious known suitor but one whose interest level in employing the passer might not be fully known as a result of this saga.
NFL Reinstates Josh Gordon
Roger Goodell reinstated Josh Gordon on Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). He can rejoin the Browns on a conditional basis, being now transferred to the commissioner’s exempt list.
A potential Gordon return will be a gradual process, but counter to what’s transpired on this front for most of the past three years, the mercurial wideout has a near-future path back to the field. Gordon can attend meetings immediately while participating in individual workouts. He can begin practicing on November 20, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (on Twitter) before being eligible for activation on November 27.
This would put Gordon in position to be eligible to play from Week 13-17 for the Browns, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Browns can keep him on the commissioner’s exempt list for another week before deciding whether or not to activate the 26-year-old pass-catcher. Gordon has not played in an NFL game since the 2014 season, but he’s at least on track to be eligible for one come December.
Gordon met with Goodell on Wednesday in New York after being denied reinstatement in May, and the Browns — who have wavered to some degree on the talented but troubled wide receiver — are ready to take him back.
“We’ve been informed of the league’s decision to reinstate Josh,” Browns executive VP Sashi Brown said (via Schefter, on Facebook). “We respect and commend Josh for taking the steps necessary to have the opportunity to return to the league. Josh will be in our building in the coming days and we look forward to having him back and sitting with him to discuss his future on our team.”
Gordon has been suspended indefinitely without pay since September of 2016, when he was set to return to the Browns after a four-game suspension. But a rehab stay instead followed after a relapse, and Gordon’s NFL future was in doubt. He’s been training this offseason with former Olympic sprinter Tim Montgomery in hopes of receiving another chance.
A first-team All-Pro in 2013 after recording one of the greatest receiving seasons in NFL history, Gordon has been plagued by substance abuse. He was suspended for 10 games in 2014 and for the entire 2015 season. A four-game ban last season was set to precede a return for his age-25 campaign, but the relapse scuttled that.
This offseason, Brown said the team is not in a strong enough position to turn away a player like Gordon. Hue Jackson said last season the team was moving on from Gordon but changed his tune to some degree this year. While Gordon’s been dangled in trade rumors, the deadline having passed means the Browns cannot get anything for him until the offseason. This puts the 2012 supplemental draft pick in a position to play for the first time in three years.
The 0-8 Browns may have the worst wideout situation in football, with their Kenny Britt investment working out about as well as the 2015 Dwayne Bowe signing. Corey Coleman remains on IR with a broken hand, and the auxiliary-type talents the team took in the 2016 draft after Coleman have not panned out. Of course, Cleveland has received poor quarterback play.
Gordon, though, recorded nearly 1,700 receiving yards in 2013 despite the likes of Brian Hoyer and Brandon Weeden throwing passes his way.
Due to the many suspensions, Gordon still has two years remaining on his rookie contract. He’s attached to a $1.1MM base salary, which he would only receive a portion of due to the prospective late-season return. What transpires if he returns to the field in December could determine how the Browns proceed with him in the offseason.
Browns Didn't Make Recent Offer For Jimmy Garoppolo
The Browns made “small offers” for ex-Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this season, but weren’t involved in talks for the New England backup before Bill Belichick & Co. traded him to the 49ers, tweets Michael Lombardi of the Ringer. Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson reportedly “pushed hard” for a quarterback addition during the offseason, but the Browns never offered anything close to the (likely early) second-round pick San Francisco sent to the Patriots, per Lombardi. Meanwhile, Belichick may have been reticent to “help” the Browns given his history with the club, sources tell Daniel Jerermiah of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Browns Botched A.J. McCarron Trade
The Browns almost landed quarterback A.J. McCarron from the Bengals before the trade deadline, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter) reports. However, the two sides could not reach agreement before 4pm ET/3pm CT on Tuesday. 
The two sides actually agreed to a McCarron trade at 3:55 pm ET/2:55pm CT, a source involved tells Schefter (on Twitter). The Bengals approved the trade with the league office in time, but the Browns did not. After the fact, the Browns argued to the NFL that the trade should be allowed, a source tells Schefter (Twitter links). The league refused, even though the Browns’ notification of the deal arrived just moments too late.
The proposed deal had the Browns sending a second-round pick and a third-round pick to the Bengals for McCarron, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The near-trade could be a sneak peak into the Browns’ offseason plans. McCarron is headed for restricted free agency in the spring, so Cleveland could theoretically make another run at him. Then again, given the way that the Bengals have valued McCarron in trade talks over the last couple of years, he could still be extremely costly.
In April, the Bengals told teams that they wanted a first-round pick for McCarron. The belief was that the Bengals were not all that interested in trading the backup QB and were simply naming an out-of-range price rather than rejecting offers outright. One unknown club did offer up a second-round choice for him. In a poll, many PFR readers speculated that it was the Browns who made that pitch. We know now that Browns coach Hue Jackson pushed hard for a reunion with McCarron.
McCarron has limited NFL experience after years of playing behind Andy Dalton, but he showed potential down the stretch in 2015 when Dalton was injured. The Browns saw him as someone who could be an upgrade over their murky QB situation, but they did not offer enough to get a deal done at the deadline. Their stockpile of picks remain untouched, but they missed out on an opportunity to spark the offense in the second half. The Browns have also made it clear to second-round pick DeShone Kizer that he is not viewed as the answer under center.
Browns’ Josh Gordon Applying For Reinstatement
1:39pm: Gordon’s meeting with the NFL is scheduled for Wednesday, not today, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. This means that Gordon will not be reinstated before this afternoon’s trade deadline.
12:59pm: Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon will meet with the league office in New York City on Tuesday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Schefter adds that the Browns could trade his rights today if he is reinstated. 
The Browns have waffled a bit when it comes to Gordon. Earlier this year, coach Hue Jackson indicated that the team would be moving on from the troubled wide receiver. Then, as the season approached, he seemed to soften that stance. Right now, it sounds like the Browns are intent on turning Gordon into draft capital if he is allowed back into the league.
In order for Gordon to earn reinstatement, he’ll have to show that he has made significant changes to his lifestyle. For some time, it was believed that Gordon was suspended due to marijuana use. Recently, he opened up about the full scope of his issues, including the misuse of Xanax, cocaine, codeine, and prescription cough syrup.
Gordon has not played since the end of the 2014 season. He had 24 catches for 303 yards in the final five games of that campaign. In 2013, he secured First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors when he hauled in 87 receptions for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns.
Hue Jackson “Pushed Hard” For QB Trade This Offseason?
Prior to the 49ers snagging Jimmy Garoppolo for a second-round pick that’s likely to fall at the top of Day 2, the Browns were the team most connected with the former Patriots backup this offseason. And Hue Jackson may have been a key driver behind that Garoppolo-to-Cleveland buzz.
The second-year Browns coach “pushed hard” this offseason for the team to trade for Garoppolo or former Bengals charge A.J. McCarron, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. Jackson felt Garoppolo could be a big part of a turnaround from Cleveland’s 1-15 season, Cabot reports, and made Tom Brady‘s then-backup his primary offseason target.
Cabot adds the Patriots would have traded Garoppolo to the Browns for “the right offer,” which the longtime Browns reporter notes would have had to include at least one first-round pick. The Browns had two of those going into the draft and ended up with three first-round selections while also carrying multiple second-round picks in April after making the Brock Osweiler trade.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported the Browns offered a second-round pick for Garoppolo, with Cabot adding the team did not go further on Day 2 of this draft to make the necessary offer to the Pats. Browns executive VP Sashi Brown said going into the draft the team was not interested in trading for a veteran quarterback.
Kyle Shanahan and Garoppolo spent time together when the current 49ers coach worked as the Browns’ OC in 2014, and Shanahan told cleveland.com at this year’s Super Bowl he had Garoppolo ranked high among the draftable 2014 passers during his one-year stay in northeast Ohio. Shanahan did not want Johnny Manziel, whom the Browns drafted, nor did he prefer Teddy Bridgewater. However, the short-term Browns play-caller did like Derek Carr and Tom Savage, per Cabot.
When the Patriots and Browns could not agree on terms for Garoppolo, Jackson pivoted to McCarron, Cabot reports. But Jackson viewed the current Bengals backup, whom he coached for two seasons in Cincinnati, as a stopgap until the Browns could land their long-term solution.
Cabot wonders if McCarron would be in play by today’s 3pm CT deadline but reports it would have likely taken at least two second-round picks to pry him from the Bengals this offseason. McCarron is under contract through the 2018 season.
Browns Offered Second-Rounder For Garoppolo
- Speaking of Garoppolo, the Browns apparently only offered a second-round pick “and change” in exchange for New England’s No. 2 signal-caller during the draft, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Some reports indicated Cleveland was willing to part with a first-rounder in order to land Garoppolo, but that apparently wasn’t the case.
Browns To Clean House On Multiple Fronts After Season?
- A report emerged earlier today Hue Jackson is tentatively expected to be the 2018 Browns‘ coach despite a historically awful start to his Cleveland career, but La Canfora is less certain he or the new-age front office will be asked back. Jackson is 1-23 since taking over last season, with only John McKay’s 1976-77 Buccaneers having compiled a worse 24-game mark, but the ex-Bengals OC joined a historic rebuilding experiment. La Canfora writes that experiment thus far failing so spectacularly will call for Jimmy Haslam to fire key front office staffers and Jackson.
Hue Jackson’s Job Safe For Now
The Browns hung tough with the Vikings for much of today’s matchup in England, but they ultimately succumbed to Minnesota to drop their record to 0-8 on the season and 1-23 since Hue Jackson took over as head coach. Nonetheless, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that Jackson’s job is safe for now, and would have been safe even if Cleveland had suffered an especially ugly loss today.
Per Rapoport, the Browns do plan to make changes at the end of the season, but as of right now, those changes are not expected to involve Jackson. It is fair to wonder, though, whether any head coach can survive back-to-back seasons with one (or fewer) wins, so the team’s remaining nine games will doubtlessly play a major role in determining Jackson’s future in Cleveland. Even for a team desperate for consistency, it is difficult to imagine Jackson making it through another 1-15 or an 0-16 campaign.
Reports concerning a rift between Jackson and the Browns’ front office have been a major part of yet another lost season for Cleveland, and given that Jackson is still seen as a quality coach, it could be that any shakeup at the end of the year could involve the team’s front office and not it’s head coach. Indeed, though the Browns have denied shopping for executives, there have been reports of impending change at the executive level.
For now, though, we will simply have to wait and see if the Browns can build any sort of momentum at the end of the season to give their head coach a little more job security.
Zimmer: “Hue Is A Heck Of A Football Coach"
Hue Jackson‘s record with the Browns is now 1-22, and that has naturally led to questions regarding the head coach’s job security. While Jackson might not have the support of the team’s brass, one of his fellow NFL head coaches believes the team is in good shape.
Jackson and Zimmer previously coached together in Cincinnati, and they served as the coordinators for the 2007 Falcons. The Browns will be seeking their first win of the season when they play the Vikings tomorrow in London.