Before trading Josh Gordon away to the New England Patriots on Monday, the Cleveland Browns spoke to multiple teams about a possible deal. 

According to ESPN.com, the Browns had trade conversations with at least three NFC teams, including the Cowboys, 49ers and Redskins. The Browns wanted to ship Gordon off to the NFC, but ended up sending him to New England after the Patriots made the best offer. In return for Gordon, the Browns will be getting a 2019 fifth-round pick from the Patriots. 

Gordon was reportedly hoping to get traded to either the Cowboys or 49ers, so it's not a total surprise that the Browns had talks with both of those teams. Not to mention, both teams would have made some sense for him: The Cowboys have one of the weakest receiving corps in the NFL and the 49ers are coming off a season where they were one of the worst red zone teams in the NFL. 

Out of the 49ers, Cowboys and Redskins, San Francisco was the only team that openly admitted to having some interest in Gordon. Before the 49ers' 30-27 win over the Lions on Sunday, general manager John Lynch told the media that he had already called the Browns about a potential trade and that he would continue to do his homework. The 49ers could have definitely been a good fit, and that's mostly because Gordon is familiar with coach Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan spent one season with Gordon in 2014, when he was the Browns' offensive coordinator. 

On the Cowboys' end, they might have just called to see if they could get Gordon for cheap. According to ProFootballTalk, the Cowboys had "zero interest" in Gordon, even though they were looking to add a receiver. In the end, the Cowboys ended up signing Brice Butler before the trade went down, according to the Dallas Morning News. 

As for the Redskins, they were in a similar situation to the Cowboys. They were looking to add a receiver and probably would have jumped at Gordon for the right price. In the end, the Redskins didn't get Gordon, but they did land another receiver. According to NFL.com, Washington signed former Ravens first-round pick Breshad Perriman less than two hours after Gordon came off the market. 

In the end, the Patriots beat out everyone to land Gordon, which shouldn't be that shocking since the "Patriots beating everyone" seems to be a common theme in the NFL every year.