AP

Long-suspended receiver Josh Gordon is due to end a three-month rehab stint in four days. Whether that leads to his reinstatement will surely take a little (or a lot) longer than that.

Asked for comment on the Gordon’s status, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told PFT, “We do not have an update.”

The last update came from Commissioner Roger Goodell, who said in August at a Browns fan forum that Gordon “is not under active consideration” for reinstatement.

This means that an application for reinstatement still needs to be made. If/when it happens, a process with no mandatory timeline and no specific rules or requirements will commence, with the league deciding whether Gordon should be reinstated without any mandates or other factors that would control the process. Basically, the league has the power under the substance-abuse policy to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants.

The league ultimately should want as many young talented players as possible back on the field, especially when the thing keeping the player off the field is completely unrelated to his work.

If/when Gordon, who has missed more than two full seasons under his latest suspension, is ever reinstated, the Browns will have to decide whether to bring him back, trade him, or release him. He has shown a significant degree of ability when he has played, but it’s been so long since Gordon has played it’s hard to know what he’d be able to do.