KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are signing former All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon, who was recently reinstated by the NFL after violations of its policies on substance abuse and performance-enhancing substances.
Gordon’s agents, Eric Dounn and Matt Leist, confirmed that Gordon was headed to Kansas City on Monday and planned to sign on to the practice squad. The expectation is he will join the active roster as soon as he’s up to speed.
“Time to get to work,” Gordon tweeted later Monday with a link to the Chiefs’ account.
The 30-year-old Gordon was one of the league’s dynamic players early in his career in Cleveland, where he led the league with 1,646 yards receiving during the 2013 season. But he quickly became entangled in off-the-field issues, leading to six suspensions over a span of six years, five of them for some form of substance abuse.
Gordon did not play at all in 2015 and ‘16 while serving suspensions, and he struggled to regain his form while splitting the 2018 season between the Browns and New England. He wound up splitting the 2019 season between the Patriots and the Seahawks before another suspension put his future in professional football in jeopardy again.
He was added to the Seattle roster last December, when the NFL deemed him eligible to return. But one day later the league decided Gordon had broken terms of his reinstatement and he was suspended indefinitely in January.
Gordon was released by the Seahawks in March, becoming a free agent, and asked Commissioner Roger Goodell in July to be reinstated. His application was approved Monday, allowing Gordon to sign with Kansas City.
The Chiefs have been desperate for help alongside Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce in the passing game, especially after losing Sammy Watkins to free agency. Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson have been unable to take the step forward that Kansas City wanted out of its No. 2 wide receiver, and Byron Pringle and Marcus Kemp had costly gaffes on Sunday.
Kemp had a pass bounce off him for an interception in a 30-24 loss to the Chargers. Pringle had a pass slip through his fingers in the closing seconds that could have given the Chiefs one last shot at the end zone.
The Chiefs tried to find some help late in the draft, using a fifth-round pick on Clemson wide receiver Cornell Powell. But he struggled throughout training camp and failed to make the active roster before the start of the season.
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