The New England Patriots traded a conditional fifth-round pick to the Browns on Monday for Josh Gordon to try and spark their slumping offense.
The New England Patriots are desperate to fix the offense. And that’s how the marriage to Josh Gordon has come to be.
A league source confirmed a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that New England agreed to acquire Gordon from the Cleveland Browns for a conditional fifth-round pick. The move happened t wo days after the Browns announced they were parting ways with Gordon.
Head coach Bill Belichick has long put availability high on his list – if not first on his list – when evaluating veteran acquisitions. If Belichick believes a player won’t stay on the field, he’s very unlikely to sign him.
For example, a league source said that’s what ultimately scuttled a bargain-basement signing of Adrian Peterson in the 2017 offseason. Belichick brought Peterson in for a workout as a favor to then-Peterson agent Ben Dogra as he believed the running back still had tread on his tires after seeing him in person. According to the source, a Peterson signing never materialized because Belichick ultimately didn’t think he could stay healthy as a heavy-use player.
All of which makes a Gordon acquisition more mysterious. No star player has had more availability problems over the past four seasons in the NFL, playing only 10 of a possible 64 games in that span. But according to a source who spoke to Yahoo Sports on Monday afternoon, New England has been “desperate” to add speed and playmaking to the offense. The loss of running back Dion Lewis has turned out to be significant, while the Patriots have been in a constant churn at the wide receiver position trying to find an impact player beyond Julian Edelman.
While Gordon would be considered a game-to-game rental, the source said it’s a signing that would be important for quarterback Tom Brady and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Both McDaniels and Brady are acutely aware that the offense is lacking an option to take the top off a secondary in passing routes. It’s something the team lost when it dealt wideout Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams. Since that move, New England has been rotating through options to resolve the problem in any way possible, including looks at Jordan Matthews, Kenny Britt and a last push with Malcolm Mitchell.
Now Gordon will be a guy who is expected to resolve all of that.
The Browns on Saturday announced that they were parting ways with Gordon, hours after the team said that the wideout wouldn’t be available to play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints due to a hamstring injury. The Browns eventually lost that game, starting the season 0-1-1 and extending a winless streak that dates back to 2016.
Subscribe to The Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast Apple Podcasts • Stitcher • Google Podcasts
More from Yahoo Sports: • ‘Completely disrespectful’: Bills player retires at halftime
• Rams player arrested on DUI charge shortly after Sunday’s win
• LeBron rips Browns kicker: ‘Are you kidding me man’
• Which 0-2 team is the NFL’s most desperate?
