It may be a roll of the dice, but the New England Patriots gave Tom Brady another weapon Monday.
The Pats have lacked in depth at wide receiver all season, especially with Julian Edelman serving a four-game suspension. But the Patriots acquired wide receiver Josh Gordon from the Cleveland Browns for a conditional fifth-round pick in next year’s draft.
There’s plenty of upside in bringing Gordon in. He is a pretty rare talent, and early on in his career drew comparisons to Randy Moss. But he’s played in just 11 games since 2013 due to struggles with mental health and substance abuse.
However, you can’t blame the Patriots for taking a flier, especially for the price and upside. And though Bill Belichick didn’t have much to say about the deal, Brady, in his weekly interview on Westwood One, weighed in on the acquisition.
“Well, we’ve had quite a few roster moves the first couple of weeks of the season with receiver,” Brady said, as transcribed by WEEI.com. “I am going to do what I have done the last couple of weeks and just try and work with whoever is there, and see if they can come in and make an impact and make a role on this team. It is really up to the individual what kind of role they can carve out for themselves. That is kind of how I feel. I am not making — I hate to make projections and expectations. That’s not fair and I have never met Josh personally, just like I hadn’t met some of the guys who have come in the last couple of weeks.
“We’ll see how it goes this week,” Brady continued. “Hopefully he can work hard, put the team first and end up helping us in any role he can find for himself on the team.”
Gordon certainly has his work cut out for him. The Patriots playbook is notorious for being pretty intricate, and forming a connection and trust with Brady is essential to any sort of success in Foxboro.
But if Gordon doesn’t pan out, well, he wouldn’t be the first this season. The Gordon trade marked the Patriots’ 28th roster move at wideout this campaign.
