That Browns Executive Vice President Sashi Brown said Thursday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis that the team will welcome back wide receiver Josh Gordon if he proves that he’s getting his act together, is hardly breaking news.

It’s more of a sarcastic “no kidding” story, akin to a starving man saying, “Yes, I would accept a nice hot meal if someone offered it to me.”

The Browns have said just that not really with words – they really couldn’t do so from a public relations standpoint because of all the trouble that Gordon’s been in over the last several years – but instead with their actions. And those actions have spoken louder and more emphatically than any words could.

The Browns roared like a lion about their “allegiance” to Gordon by hanging on to him when he was suspended by the NFL last season for violating its substance abuse policy – again and again. Even though he wasn’t going to play a down in 2015, there was no use cutting him. Per NFL rules, the money due him was not counting against the salary cap during his absence, so he was a freebie. If he never beat back his demons and faded out of sight, then they could get rid of him. And that option is still certainly on the table.

But a team that so desperately needs a game-changing wide receiver, someone big, strong and fast who can run downfield and make plays, would be foolish to sever ties with a player of Gordon’s ability. Obviously, they can’t count on the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder and as such have to assume that he will never play football again because he has yet to prove that he can behave himself.

But if the time comes that he gets reinstated, returns and starts playing like he did in 2013, when he caught 87 passes for an NFL-leading and club-record 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging just under 19 yards per reception, then it would provide a shot in the arm the likes of which the Browns haven’t enjoyed in a long, long time.

That was always the Browns’ plans with Gordon, and it will remain so until there is some final resolution concerning his viability. Why wouldn’t it be the case?

Now, if Gordon were some third-string left guard or the backup to the backup to the backup at free safety, holding onto a roster spot by a bare thread, then the Browns would have booted him out the door long ago. He wouldn’t have been all the trouble.

But, if Gordon really, truly has his life in order and can shake off the rust brought on from all that inactivity, then he has a chance to resume his position as the Browns’ best overall player and one of the best wideouts in the league. He would be a gold mine all by himself.

All that is a big if, but it’s an if worth waiting on no matter how long it takes.

That fact is not a news story. It’s just common sense.