I think someone knows: This is why Gordon is being traded or cut.
I think they’re just done.
The Browns, to their credit, tried. As inept as they are at handling his trade/release (seriously, who says, “we’ll try to trade him & if not we’ll just release him. By the way, he’s always late, lazy & irresponsible so don’t value him too much, potential trade partners”.) they were pretty generous in their helping Gordon with his off-field issues.
Football-aside I respect the way the Browns stuck with Gordon & tried to help him get over his challenges.
They gave him a LOT of leeway, a lot of space to recover, a lot of time away from the team & and seemingly a lot of support. They even went to bat for him with the NFL more than once IIRC.
Good on the Browns for trying. As anyone who’s dealt with addiction/mental illness in their family/circle of friends knows, somerimes (often) the more effort you put in, the greater the level of disappointment will be.
I don’t think Gordon had to fall off the wagon - being late to meetings, lacking focus, allowing your presence to be a distraction to team success is more than enough to warrant a trade/release.
I’m a little surprised it didn’t happen earlier, TBH. Good on the Browns for trying though.