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.
A.J. McCarron Fighting For Unrestricted Free Agent Status
Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron found himself in the news this week when an oversight from the Browns prevented him from getting traded to Cleveland. But, he may have an opportunity to leave Cincinnati and join up with any team he chooses this spring. The NFLPA is fighting to change his status from restricted free agent to unrestricted free agent after the season, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link). 
[RELATED: Browns Botched A.J. McCarron Trade With Bengals]
Because he spent most of his rookie year on the non-football injury list, the Bengals say that he is an RFA. However, the union says that due to the nature and timing of the injury, he should not have been on the NFI list and should have four accrued seasons at the end of 2017 instead of only three.
If McCarron earns UFA status, he’ll be in for a much larger payday. The Bengals are already committed to Andy Dalton under center and it would be nearly impossible for them to commit top-20 QB money to McCarron, so he would almost certainly wind up somewhere else. Potentially, this could be Cleveland’s second chance to land the Alabama product, though McCarron might have some reservations about the Browns organization after Tuesday’s debacle.
Patriots To Sign QB Brian Hoyer
The Patriots have found their replacement for Jimmy Garoppolo in Brian Hoyer. The Pats met with Hoyer on Wednesday morning and inked him to a three-year deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
Hoyer was not included in the Garoppolo trade, presumably because New England did not want to take on his two-year, $12MM deal. Hoyer is entitled to termination pay, so he’ll continue to collect on a good chunk of that deal while earning the minimum – or something close to it – in New England. Meanwhile, he goes from the 0-8 Niners to the defending champs.
Hoyer, 32, started six games for the Niners before getting benched in favor of C.J. Beathard. He threw four touchdowns against four interceptions and ranked near the bottom of just about every statistical category for quarterbacks.
He’s not a star, but the Patriots feel that he can be a capable backup in the event that Tom Brady suffers an injury. He also has familiarity with the team thanks to his time with the Pats from 2009-2011. Of course, they’ll also be keeping their fingers crossed extra tight for Brady’s health since they converted a much better safety net into a second-round pick.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott Files Appeal
Judge Katherine Failla — the same judge who on Monday dissolved Ezekiel Elliott‘s restraining order against the NFL — has denied the Cowboys running back’s request for a stay, which would have allowed him to stay on the field while his case is sorted out, according to Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
The decision was entirely expected, and Failla indicated as such in her ruling: “For the Court to grant the NFLPA’s motion for a stay at this stage would in effect be to reverse its decision of last night,” wrote Failla, per legal analyst Daniel Wallach (Twitter link). Elliot’s motion requested an answer from Failla by 7pm Eastern, and noted he and his team would “have no choice but to seek relief from the Second Circuit,” and that’s exactly what they’ve done.
Elliott’s appeal is already on the second circuit’s docket, tweets Hairopoulos, and he’s requested an “expedited” process, per Wallach (Twitter link). Essentially, Elliott wants his appeal paused for a third time while the case plays out, reports Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Still, there’s little to no chance that Elliott will be available in Week 9, meaning the Cowboys will turn to a combination of Alfred Morris, Darren McFadden, and Rod Smith in the backfield. Dallas was reportedly considering running back additions prior to today’s trade deadline.
Cardinals’ David Johnson Done For Year?
At one point in time, the Cardinals hoped to have David Johnson back on the field by Thanksgiving or Christmas. Now, it sounds like he’ll miss the whole holiday season. Coach Bruce Arians “doubts” that Johnson will return this year (Twitter link via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic).
[RELATED: David Johnson Says He Has Yet To Start Rehab]
Johnson recently admitted that he was unsure of his recovery timetable, so Arians’ comments do not come as a total shock. The Cardinals do not want to rush one of the game’s most talented ball carriers back on the field, and it’s certainly not worth the gamble given the way the season has gone.
The Cardinals are currently 3-4 and without starting quarterback Carson Palmer, so their playoff chances are looking pretty remote. Football Outsiders gives Arizona just a 0.7% chance of reaching the postseason with Johnson on the shelf and Drew Stanton filling in for Palmer.
Johnson, 25, was arguably the league’s best offensive player in 2016 as he posted more than 2,100 yards from scrimmage and scored 20 total touchdowns. With Johnson sidelined, the Cardinals first turned to a committee of Kerwynn Williams, Andre Ellington, and Chris Johnson, but have since acquired veteran running back Adrian Peterson from the Saints.
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.
Panthers Trade WR Kelvin Benjamin To Bills
The Panthers have traded wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The buzzer beating deal comes as one of the biggest trades of the week, and that’s saying a lot for what has been a historically eventful deadline. In return, the Panthers receive Buffalo’s third- and seventh-round picks in 2018, a league source tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). 
Benjamin’s name was not involved in rumors leading up to the NFL’s Halloween trade deadline. However, it was the old connection between executive Brandon Beane and Carolina that brought the deal together. The Bills traded away one of the game’s brightest talents in Sammy Watkins earlier this year, but they have replaced him with another big target.
The Bills are off to a 5-2 start with a very real chance of toppling the Patriots for the AFC East crown. The move to acquire Benjamin reads as a go-for-it deal, and Buffalo fans are happy to see that in the wake of the Marcell Dareus trade.
Benjamin, 26, was a first-round pick of the Panthers in 2014 when Beane was in the front office and Sean McDermott was on the sidelines. In that season, he caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and nine scores. Unfortunately, the 2015 season was lost to injury and the football world is still waiting for Benjamin to replicate that season. The good news is that the health and conditioning problems that were plaguing the Florida State product appear to be behind him. In his half-season for Carolina this year, he has 32 grabs for 475 yards and two touchdowns.
The Panthers previously exercised the fifth-year option on Benjamin, meaning that the Bills will have him under contract through the 2018 season. His paltry $2.44MM cap number will increase to $8.46MM under the option, which is guaranteed for injury only.
49ers Trade CB Rashard Robinson To Jets
The 49ers made their second deadline deal in two days, this time agreeing to send cornerback Rashard Robinson to the Jets, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Jets gave the Niners a 2018 fifth-round pick in exchange, a source tells Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). 
Robinson, a fourth-round pick last year, has started seven games for San Francisco this season. The Jets are hurting in the secondary presently, but the 22-year-old corner is under contract through the 2019 season. So, this represents a possible long-term piece for Gang Green.
The LSU product has started 13 games over the past two seasons. He’s deflected eight passes, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass during his sophomore NFL campaign. Robinson, though, ranks among Pro Football Focus’ worst-graded corners this season. This could be a short-term depth addition and a long-term developmental project.
New York is currently dealing with injuries to Morris Claiborne and Buster Skrine, making this an interesting way to go about patching up a secondary.
Giants Suspend Janoris Jenkins
The Giants have suspended a second starting cornerback this season. This time, it’s Janoris Jenkins who has encountered a team-imposed suspension, Kimberly Jones of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). Jenkins violated team rules and will miss at least this weekend’s game against the Rams, per Jones. This follows the Giants’ suspension of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie earlier this month. 
When the Giants returned from their bye on Monday, Jenkins was not with the club. At the time, coach Ben McAdoo said he was excused for “personal reasons”. On Tuesday, McAdoo said that was not really the case.
“At that point, neither myself nor any of the coaches had heard from Jackrabbit,” McAdoo explained, referring to Jenkins by his locker room nickname.
So far this year, Jenkins is ranked as the No. 28 cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. His 81.5 grade is solid, but it’s a step back from his 88.0 showing in 2016.
We’re still waiting to hear why Jenkins was MIA on Monday, just one day after his 29th birthday.
“As a member of this team, there are standards and we have responsibilities and obligations,” said McAdoo. “When we don’t fulfill those obligations, there are consequences. As I have said before, we do not like to handle our team discipline publicly. There are times when it is unavoidable, and this is one of those times.”
Ravens’ Danny Woodhead To Come Off Of IR
Ravens running back Danny Woodhead has officially returned to practice, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The plan is for Woodhead to return from injured reserve. 
The Ravens parked Woodhead on IR in September when he was taking longer than expected to recover from a hamstring strain. With some extra time to recover, Woodhead should be able to give Baltimore’s running game a boost. As an added bonus, he’s entering the midway point of the season with fresh legs.
Woodhead signed with the Ravens on a three-year, $8.8MM deal with $4.25MM guaranteed back in March. It remains to be seen whether he can truly earn his salary given his age and injury troubles.
Woodhead missed most of last season and played in only three games for the 2014 Chargers due to injury. In 2015, however, Woodhead totaled 1,091 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns.