Because Josh Gordon is an exclusive rights free agent, the Browns don’t have to do more than tender a contract offer to the wide receiver in order to hold onto his rights for the 2018 season.
Browns coach Hue Jackson said that making that offer is a formality and suggested that he’d like to see Gordon sign an even longer deal with the team at some point in the future.
“Well, I think the first thing, if we tender him, which we will, that’s where he’ll be,” Jackson said, via the Akron Beacon Journal. “But we want Josh Gordon to be a Cleveland Brown for a long time. We’ll see where that all goes, but he has to do his part in that. And we hope he will, and I’m sure he will.”
Jackson said that the team has not discussed whether to start extension talks with Gordon this offseason, but it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to wait a bit. While getting a longer look at Gordon on the field and seeing that he can stay on the field might make it a more expensive contract down the road, it would also make for a wiser investment than pushing for a deal right now.