John Lynch made a phone call to the Cleveland Browns to express some level of interest in wide receiver Josh Gordon, the San Francisco 49ers general manager told NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday.
Lynch said the 49ers are going through their standard due diligence to determine whether to pursue a trade for Gordon, whom the Browns announced Saturday would be released in the coming days.
Gordon is signed through this season with a base salary of $790,000. The Browns are entertaining trade offers for Gordon, who has played in just 11 games since his breakout 2013 season and reportedly prefers the 49ers or Cowboys as destinations.
Gordon showed up Saturday at the Browns facility with a hamstring injury. He told the team he sustained the injury during a promotional shoot, which was not a team event, Pro Football Talk reported, citing a league source.
There is a lot for the 49ers to consider, including how much Gordon can be relied upon. Coach Kyle Shanahan served as Cleveland’s offensive coordinator in 2014.
Gordon has a season-long suspension reduced to 10 games because of a violation of the league’s policy on substances of abuse in 2014. He was suspended for the final game of the season for skipping a walk-through one day before a game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Gordon was suspended for the entire 2015 season. He also was suspended for the first four games of 2016, and entered an in-patient rehabilitation facility. After missing two full seasons, he finally was reinstated for the final five games of last season.
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In 41 career NFL games since entering the NFL in 2012, Gordon has caught 180 passes for 3,106 yards and 16 touchdowns. In 2013, he appeared in 14 games and caught 87 passes for a league-leading 1,646 yards and nine TDs.
