The New England Patriots acquired wide receiver Josh Gordon from the Cleveland Browns on Monday, but Bill Belichick wasn’t exactly shouting from the rooftops about it.
While it is not unusual for the Pats head coach to remain coy about anything, especially questions about specific team personnel, he refused to comment on the move during his appearance on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria” on Monday.
“Yeah well at this point I can’t comment on anything until whatever we do is official,” Belichick said. “I just can’t make any comments on that right now.”
When told that both the Patriots and Browns released statements announcing the trade, Belichick said a little bit more goes into those deals beyond press releases coming out.
“Yeah and there are conditions that go with that, so until everything gets set — it’s a work in progress, so we’re not there yet,” Belichick said. “There’s a certain process that an acquisition goes through and we’re in that normal process. We’re not there yet and until anything is completed, I will refrain from commenting on it.
“Again, until it’s on the wire and until the transaction is completed, it’s not completed,” Belichick later added. “Now, there’s a process that doesn’t just happen in 20 seconds. It’s a process that is normal for trades that you go through and that’s part of what we are going through.”
According to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi, there may be a pretty good reason for Belichick keeping quiet.
That’s important to keep in mind since Gordon said he hurt his hamstring during a photo shoot Friday, though he reportedly underwent an MRI and the results came back clean.
What Belichick did answer, however, was a question about the Patriots’ history of bringing in guys with checkered pasts. New England signed Michael Floyd shortly after he was cut by the Arizona Cardinals due to a DUI, while questions also were raised about Randy Moss’ character before he came to Foxboro.
Though not giving a direct response, Belichick had a short explanation why the Patriots don’t fear bringing in those types of players.
“Well I don’t think, just fundamentally, I don’t think we would want to bring a player onto our team that we didn’t feel like would be able to help our team,” Belichick said. “Obviously they don’t all work out, but that’s always the intent.”
The Patriots were thin at the receiver position, so even if it’s a gamble, Gordon certainly could be a big contributor to the Patriots. He’s played in just 11 games since 2013, but his insane talent makes the deal well worth the risk for the Patriots.
