Should the Los Angeles Chargers trade Melvin Gordon?
Los Angeles Chargers RB Melvin Gordon has demanded a new contract or a trade. Should the Chargers send him to the highest bidder?
The Los Angeles Chargers have spent the 2019 offseason strengthening their Super Bowl aspirations with very little if any drama whatsoever.
Until Melvin Gordon demanded a trade.
Gordon, in the last year of his rookie contract, wants a new deal — or else.
The Pro Bowl running back coming off of his best statistical as a pro in terms of yards per carry (5.1) and total touchdowns (14) is probably going to want similar money to what Le’Veon Bell just got with the New York Jets, and perhaps even more (four years, $52 million).
Gordon’s decision to hold out was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Los Angeles running back Melvin Gordon has informed the Chargers that unless he receives a new contract, he will not report to training camp and he will demand a trade, his agent Fletcher Smith told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 11, 2019
Melvin Gordon’s agent, Damarius Bilbo, tells me there’s a “strong possibility” Gordon could sit out into the regular season, absent a new, market-value deal with #Chargers. “But we want to focus on getting something done before training camp. There’s a long way to go to Week 1.”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 11, 2019
The timing of this is pretty perfect on Gordon’s part. Like I mentioned, there has been virtually no drama for the Chargers this offseason, and they’ve simply been collecting elite young talent and putting together one of the best young rosters in the NFL around Philip Rivers, who is hungry for his first NFL title.
Are the Chargers a legit Super Bowl contender without Melvin Gordon?
That’s the question they have to answer, and they also have to answer whether or not they are going to be stronger contenders with or without him for the next four or five years.
The Chargers shouldn’t just back up the truck for Gordon at this point. There are a variety of reasons for that.
The top reason being that NFL running backs grow on trees, and the Chargers could get a player of Gordon’s caliber — meaning a 4.0 yards per carry average over four years with the ability to contribute in the running game — on day two of pretty much any given NFL Draft.
Another reason? Gordon has one full 16-game season in his four years in the NFL. Aside from playing all 16 games in 2017, Gordon has never played more than 14 in his three other years with the Chargers.
And finally, last year, the Chargers saw a big breakout year from Austin Ekeler, who averaged 6.6 yards per touch on 145 total touches. Among backs with at least 140 touches, Ekeler’s per-touch average was second only to Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen.
Ekeler is probably more of a change-of-pace back, but there are guys on the free agent market still who could eat carries as a bell cow type of back. Jay Ajayi is one of them, and Alex Collins is another.
If the Chargers could recoup a second-round pick for Gordon, would that be worth the tradeoff? Would you trade Melvin Gordon for a second-round pick and the opportunity to sign a guy like Ajayi or Collins for a year to pair with Austin Ekeler?
The timing on Gordon’s part is convenient. The Chargers have not made any moves to upgrade the running back position this offseason. They are probably in no hurry to dismantle what they’ve built to this point and Gordon is coming off of his most effective season ever on a per-game, per-snap basis.
If he’s continually improving, is now really the time to sell? Is it ever smart to pay big money to running backs, especially guys who have struggled with and played through injuries?
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Gordon is putting the Chargers in a tough spot, and my guess is they will pay him, but they probably shouldn’t.