Veteran wide receiver Josh Gordon may have just seen his NFL career come to an end after becoming one of the roster cut casualties across the league when he got released by the Kansas City Chiefs Tuesday.

Despite this latest development in his career, Josh Gordon has nothing but respect for the Chiefs, who gave him a chance to play football in the NFL again.  “Appreciate all the Chiefs has done for me and my family this past year. Thanks for the opportunity and the many memories,” Josh Gordon said in a tweet following his release from Kansas City. In a separate tweet, Gordon said that he is “excited to see” where his next football destination will be.

Josh Gordon used to be one the most electrifying downfield targets in the entire NFL. He broke out in just his second year in the NFL in 2013 with the Cleveland Browns when he racked up a  league-leading 1,646 receiving yards to go with nine touchdowns on 87 receptions and 159 targets. However, he struggled to keep that form, in large part because of season-long suspensions he served due to his violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

The Browns traded Gordon to the New England Patriots in September 2018 before getting suspended indefinitely for the same violations in December 2018. The Patriots waived him just before the 2019 NFL season and then was claimed months later by the Seattle Seahawks. He found his way to the Chiefs when the team signed him to their practice squad in 2021.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid left the door a bit open for a potential return to the team by Josh Gordon, saying, “I'm proud of Josh for all that he did. There's a chance he's potentially back here,” per Kevin Patra of the NFL Network.

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The Chiefs traded star wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins back in March, but that hardly mattered for Kansas City when it comes to making a decision on Gordon. After all, the Chiefs have also reloaded on Mahomes' downfield weapons by signing wideouts Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster in the offseason. Kansas City also drafted a wide receiver in Skyy Moore, who's being viewed as a sleeper candidate to break out right away in 2022.