Browns' Josh Gordon denied NFL reinstatement after failing another drug test

Josh Gordon won't be playing in the NFL in 2016.

The star Cleveland Browns receiver was denied reinstatement by the league after reportedly failing another offseason drug test, per Mary Cabot of Cleveland.com. The report does note that Gordon can apply for reinstatement on August 1, but at this point, it looks very unlikely Gordon will play in the NFL this year, if ever again.

Here's an excerpt of Cabot's report on how Gordon may be able to eventually get reinstated:

The league will likely need to see a serious commitment from Gordon to his program, including a possible stint in an inpatient rehab facility.

The news comes one day after Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports reported that Gordon had failed another league-administered drug test.

Garafolo reported that Gordon tested positive for marijuana, and that both the A and B samples were diluted as well. The amount of marijuana in the samples was less than the 35 nanograms required for a positive test, according to the report. But a diluted sample that contains traces of a banned substance constitutes a positive test for a player in Stage Two or Stage Three of the program.

Gordon is in Stage Three.

Gordon was suspended for the entire 2015 season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. He was also suspended for the first 10 games of 2014 for a similar violation. He was suspended by the Browns for the 2014 season finale at Baltimore because of a violation of team rules.

Gordon's once-promising NFL career is slowly going over a cliff, and it does not look like he'll have a chance to revive it until 2017 at the very least. In his three years with the Browns, Gordon has 161 receptions, 2,754 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Despite being suspended in 2013 for two games for his first violation of the NFL's Substance Abuse Policy, Gordon led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards and became the first player in NFL history with consecutive 200-yard receiving games.

However, Gordon caught just 24 passes for 303 yards in five games during the 2014 season before missing all of 2015. His NFL career is quickly going by the wayside and Gordon should probably think about playing football in another professional league with the NFL being unlikely this year. It's sad to see anyone's career go this way, especially with an all-pro talent like Gordon.

This also only makes life a lot harder for new Browns head coach Hue Jackson to carry this franchise out of the NFL cellar-dwellers and make them even a respectable team when his best players can't even get on the field.