Return of the Flash! Josh Gordon Signed By Seattle Seahawks

• Josh Gordon has been signed by the Seattle Seahawks.
• Gordon is not technically reinstated to the NFL as of yet but the odds are high that he will be shortly.
• The NFL recently lowered punishments for marijuana usage, but these lowered punishments may not apply to Gordon.

SEATTLE – Josh Gordon, incredibly, is once again back in the NFL. The beleaguered receiver has been signed by the Seattle Seahawks.

This comes despite the fact that Gordon has not even been reinstated into the NFL in an official capacity.

The #Seahawks have re-signed WR Josh Gordon, per agent @davidcanter. Gordon gets a 1-year deal with some upside to get him over $1M upon reinstatement. As of now, Gordon is still waiting for that.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 3, 2020

Gordon has become something of an accidental mercenary in recent years, a guy with a lot of talent that good teams with cap issues can take a flyer on. This Seattle Seahawks deal has become the latest in a long line of Josh Gordon stops that demonstrate that talent can get you anywhere in the NFL, no matter what your issues are.

It’s impossible to talk about Gordon without mentioning the elephant in the room, his well-known history with drug use.

One thing that is impossible to ignore about the Gordon situation is how the NFL’s drug policies have changed recently.

Gordon’s admitted drug history involves a fair amount of marijuana usage, and marijuana usage is no longer a suspendable offense in the NFL.

This could be a big deal for Gordon, although he has had other problems in the past as well. It raises the question of how deserved those suspensions really were, as well as the question of if he can succeed without that specter hanging over his head.

So, no more suspensions for marijuana - sounds like good news for Gordon, right?

Well, unfortunately for him, any violation of the policy  by a previously suspended player will result in a suspension.

In other words, because Gordon had this history, and because he played in the NFL before they changed the rules, he’s subject to harsher penalties than he would be otherwise.

Basically, despite the fact that the NFL has changed the rules, they don’t appear to have changed for Gordon. This genuinely does seem a bit unfair. Gordon would not have received many of his previous suspensions under the new policy, and yet, because he did receive them, he is now not able to benefit from the new policy.

The situation is obviously still fluid - Gordon has not even been officially reinstated by the league, and a lot could happen between now and the start of the season.

So, what does this mean for Gordon’s numbers if he gets reinstated? Well, one takeaway would be that Gordon would need to stay squeaky clean despite the new policy.

Gordon has not demonstrated an ability to do this in the past - he might be someone to fade when looking at NFL season Over/Under lines.

Similarly, it is worth keeping this policy in mind when examining the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl odds - Gordon has a lot to overcome before he seriously impacts them.