Why odds are good Josh Gordon will return and stick with the Seahawks

One thing that has been on the back burner throughout the Seahawks’ offseason is the possibility of suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon returning to the team.

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The one-time All-Pro came to Seattle around midseason in 2019, and he was with the team long enough to play five games and develop a rapport with quarterback Russell Wilson and the rest of the locker room. But shortly after he made his biggest play in a game for the Seahawks, catching a 58-yard pass in a Week 14 road win over Carolina, he was suspended indefinitely, the eighth time he had been handed a suspension as a pro.

On Wednesday, Gordon sent a letter to the NFL applying for reinstatement, and 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps believes it’s very likely Gordon will be able to continue his NFL career in Seahawks uniform.

“I think the odds are very good. There was always a sense and a feeling even after he was suspended… that everybody in that building loved him,” said Heaps, a former Seahawks quarterback, during Thursday’s Four-Down Territory segment on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Tom, Jake and Stacy. “He was a great personality, he fit in very well, he worked extremely hard, and he was just starting to come into his own in terms of fitting into the offense and Russell really gaining a lot of chemistry with him. I think that there was always a feeling that if Josh Gordon could come back that, hey, the Seahawks were definitely going to take a chance… thinking that he would be a tremendous fit.”

That much has largely been known, but what was brought to light Thursday that had not been known before was that Gordon, who was suspended for violating league policies on performance enhancers and substances of abuse, relapsed after the death of his brother last November. That was disclosed by Gordon’s lawyer, Adam Kenner, in a statement to NFL Network reporter Tom Pellisero.

Josh Gordon’s brother passed away last November, about a month before his suspension — Gordon’s fifth for violating the NFL-NFLPA drug policies.

I reached out to Gordon’s lawyer, Adam Kenner, who tells me: pic.twitter.com/jbrgIkIoMW

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 18, 2020

Something else in that statement stands out to Heaps that he says indicates that Gordon will be in a great position to stay on the field this time if his application for reinstatement is approved.

“One other thing that I want to add to this equation is, OK, if Josh Gordon comes back, how much can you rely on him? I think that’s always going to be a question that you have,” Heaps said. “To me, that is the biggest thing: Josh Gordon needs to have a team in place, a group around him that’s going to keep him on track. So if you’re a Seahawks fan wondering if you can count on Josh Gordon, just know that Josh Gordon is taking this extremely seriously and that he’s doing everything in his power to try and set himself up where he can be accountable and that he can stay on the straight and narrow for the Seattle Seahawks and for himself.”

And if there’s any question about where Gordon wants to go if he’s allowed back into the league, just take a look at his social media accounts. He has stuck around the Seattle area all offseason, even sharing some photos Thursday of him working out on a field in Bellevue, and has professed his appreciation for the Pacific Northwest on multiple occasions.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake Heaps on Twitter.

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