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A former New England Patriots wide receiver will be looking for a new team prior to the start of the 2022 NFL season.
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Josh Gordon has been cut by the Kansas City Chiefs with Tom Pelissero first to report the news.
“Gordon has shown great character on the field and in the community since he got to Kansas City and the team is open to him returning,” Pelissero tweeted. “But it’s a numbers game right now and he’s the odd man out.”
Gordon also thanked Chiefs fans after it was decided that he would be cut.
“Appreciate all the Chiefs kingdom has done for me and my family this past year,” Gordon wrote on Twitter. “Thanks for the opportunity and the many memories.”
Gordon spent just one season in Kansas City and appeared in 12 games according to Pro Football Reference. The wide receiver only tallied five receptions for 32 yards and a touchdown.
How Did Gordon Perform in New England?
Gordon joined the Patriots in the 2018 season after being traded in the middle of the season by the Cleveland Browns. The wide receiver ended up playing in 17 games for New England over two seasons according to Pro Football Reference.
Gordon tallied 60 receptions for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns. After leaving Cleveland, the Patriots have been the wide receivers best stop.
Roster Cutdown Not an Easy Day for Bill Belichick
Tuesday is the roster cutdown day for teams around the NFL as rosters will be trimmed down to 53 players. Belichick said that it’s an emotional day cutting guys.
“Absolutely. Without a doubt,” Belichick said, when asked if the emotions from roster cutdown day weighed heavily on him.
Belichick continued stating that it can be tough to deliver the news after all the hard work players put in.
“The actual process is very difficult for all of us — myself, certainly assistant coaches who have established a close relationship with their players and respect for their players because of their effort, work ethic and commitment that they make to the team,” said Belichick. “But ultimately, 37 of those 90 players can’t be with the team.
“It’s always difficult to talk to those players about the fact that they’ve done a lot, they’ve contributed a lot, they’ve worked hard, they’ve put a lot into it, but 37 of the 90 — or now 27 of the 90 with the roster being at 80 — are not going to be on the 53-man roster. So that is difficult. It’s difficult for the players. I’m sure all their family, friends and so forth hear the news, contact them and so forth. There’s the hard part of dealing with that. The flip side of that is 53 players with a 16-man practice squad puts you 69 — let’s call it 70. So now there are, let’s call it 10 players that — again, players can come from other teams and so forth, but just in round numbers — the 27 really is a little closer to 10. It’ll be more than 10, but a little closer to 10 than the 27 because those players potentially would be players that’ll be asked to be on the practice squad, which will enable them to continue their career and their development in the National Football League, just not on the 53-man roster.”
The Patriots have until 4 p.m. ET to trim their roster down to 53 players.