Josh Gordon Will Only Make a Ridiculously Low $790,000 in 2018
First off the expected reaction here will be that this is Josh Gordon’s fault for being out of the league for as long as he was with his issues. Totally fair and you can’t hate on the Browns for doing the expected here because the NFL is a business and if they can get away with paying one of the best receivers in football under $800k then you have to do that. What’s fucked here is this stupid NFL rule that prevents Gordon from negotiating with other teams and becoming a real free agent. It’s called the exclusive rights free agent rule (EFRA) which means if a player hasn’t been on a team for more than three accrued seasons (6 games or more) and their contract expires, the team they were last on has the right to sign them with zero negotiation or ability for another team to step in. The contract is also non-guaranteed.
At the end of the day it’s probably the best for Flash to make the league minimum because who knows what a guy with his past would do when given all this money just like that. It’s probably good that Josh Gordon still has to prove himself to earn a big time check because that’ll keep him motivated and his head on straight, but the list of receivers making more than him now is just outrageous. Here are some…
Dwayne Harris on the Giants makes $3.5 million a year
Kevin White on the Bears makes $4.1 million a year
Brandon LaFell on the Bengals makes $4.5 million a year
Markus Wheaton on the Steelers makes $5.5 million a year
Mike Wallace on the Ravens makes $5.75 million a year
Tavon Austin on the Rams makes $10.55 million a year
Dez Bryant on the Cowboys makes $14 million a year
The Tavon Austin number is absolutely ridiculous. Tavon played all 16 games last year and scored one goddamn touchdown which was on end around. He makes THIRTEEN TIMES what Josh Gordon is making. If this stupid rule didn’t exist, and a team examined only the football player on the field, I think Flash Gordon would be in the top 5 of wide receiver salaries. His talent level is on a completely different stratosphere than the names above, and he’s really never had a decent quarterback, never mind a good one. Instead he’ll make less than basically anyone. I hope he goes bananas this year with a real quarterback and earns one the biggest contracts ever from his position. It’s amazing he’s gotten back to this point and you have to be happy for him. He’s one of the better comeback stories of our generation if he can keep it up. Go Flash Go.