Following Josh Gordon‘s DWI arrest early Saturday morning, his $500 bond was posted by the man who was in the car with him at the time of the arrest, Haydn “Fats” Thomas, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. As Florio observes, Thomas is a convicted felon and “well-known hustler” in the Triangle region of North Carolina, which makes Gordon’s choice of traveling companions nearly as troubling as the DWI itself.
As far as the on-field fallout from Gordon’s latest incident, there are several items of note this morning:
- Gordon, of course, was already facing a season-long suspension for his most recent violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, and his appeal hearing is set for late this month. As Florio notes in a different piece for Pro Football Talk, the DWI charge will technically have no impact on that hearing, as the league’s substance abuse policy creates a separate track for alcohol-related violations. However, Roger Goodell–or his designee–will certainly be less inclined to reduce the length of Gordon’s drug-related ban in the wake of the DWI. Furthermore, Gordon could face a separate suspension for Saturday’s arrest, which means that he is now not only more likely to miss all of 2014, but a portion of his 2015 season is in jeopardy as well.
- Jeff Schudel of The News-Herald tweets that the Browns should still not cut ties with Gordon. The teams does not have to pay him while he is suspended, and not getting paid could be strong motivation to get clean.
- Even before Gordon’s DWI arrest, Field Yates of ESPN.com (subscription required) discussed how the Browns might go about replacing him this season. Yates writes that the team should rely more heavily on slot options like Nate Burleson, Andrew Hawkins, and Jordan Cameron, as perimeter receivers like Miles Austin and Anthony Armstrong are big question marks at this point.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com tweets that Saturday’s arrest proves that departed GM Mike Lombardi was right to try and trade Gordon last season. Fitzgerald notes that Lombardi should have come down on his asking price.