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It looks like Josh Gordon's July 19 meeting with Roger Goodell went better than expected. The NFL announced on Monday that Gordon has been reinstated to the league, but with one catch: Gordon will be suspended for the first four games of the season.

The ruling comes just six days after Goodell and Gordon met in New York. At the time, the belief was that Goodell would take a few weeks to mull over a possible reinstatement. That didn't happen though.

Instead, the commissioner ended up taking less than a week to make his decision.

"As we discussed at our meeting, I want nothing more than to see you turn your circumstances around and succeed," Goodell wrote in a letter to Gordon. "Countless others including your agent, teammates and coaches, Mr. Haslam and the leadership of the organization, the Program professionals and Jim Brown also have pledged to provide you with every resource at their disposal. But as you acknowledged, ultimately, your future is your responsibility. I have every belief that you can make the right choices, but it will be up to you to do so."

The reinstatement means that Gordon will be able to report for training camp with the Browns. The receiver is also eligible to play in each of Cleveland's four preseason games.

Gordon's four-game suspension will begin just before Week 1 in September. The good news for Gordon is that Goodell will be cutting him a break during his suspension. Once the suspension begins, Gordon will be allowed to attend team meetings, according to NFL.com.

Josh Gordon Browns
Josh Gordon could be back on the field by Week 5 of the NFL season. Getty Images

In most cases, when a player is suspended, they're not supposed to have any contact with their team once the suspension begins. For instance, Tom Brady isn't even allowed to have his receivers over to his house for a game of catch once his suspension begins in September.

Coincidentally, Gordon and Brady are scheduled to return for the same game in 2016: The Browns host the Patriots in Week 5. Both Brady and Gordon are eligible to return on the Monday before that game (Oct. 3).

As for Gordon, just because he's back doesn't mean he's going to get on the field. The wide receiver hasn't played in an NFL game since 2014, which means it's been over 18 months since he's seen the field.

When Gordon gets to camp, he's also going to notice that receiver is one of the deepest positions that the Browns have. Cleveland took a total of four receivers -- Corey Coleman, Ricardo Louis, Rashard Higgins and Jordan Payton -- during in the 2016 NFL Draft and Gordon's going to have to compete with all of them for a spot.

The four-game suspension will be the fourth one of Gordon's career. The Browns receiver was also suspended for two games in 2013, 11 games in 2014 and for the entire 2015 season. The 2014 suspension combined a 10-game punishment from the NFL, and a one-game punishment from the Browns.

If Gordon's going to return in Week 5, he'll have to stay clean, which might not be easy.

The receiver had a chance to get reinstated in March of 2016, but that fell through when he turned in a diluted sample on a drug test, which is the same as failed test in the eyes of the NFL.

The league might also frown on the fact that Gordon's been hanging out with another suspended player. The receiver showed up in one of Johnny Manziel's Snapchat videos on Monday.