Will The Chargers Trade Melvin Gordon To The Redskins, Eagles Or 49ers?
Will the Chargers trade Melvin Gordon to the Redskins, Eagles or 49ers?
At this point it appears to be a 50-50 proposition.
Gordon, 26, is set to make $5.6 million in 2019 on the fifth year team option of his rookie deal.
Over the past two years, he has essentially been the main driver of the Los Angeles running game.
Back in 2017, he put up 1,105 yards and 8 touchdowns on 284 rushing attempts.
A year later, in 2018, he put up 885 yards and 10 touchdowns on 175 rushing attempts.
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Despite his solid production, the general value reduction that running backs in the NFL have experienced over the last few seasons have led to a disagreement in his worth between Gordon and the Chargers.
He wants Todd Gurley, David Johnson and Le’Veon Bell type money.
The Chargers don’t want to pay him that.
One week ago, Los Angeles brass gave Gordon’s representation the green light to go look for a possible trade package.
Several interesting ones emerged.
Washington is in a bit of a similar boat. They have an extremely talented player in offensive tackle Trent Williams who is also looking to go somewhere else.
The Redskins need a running back after Derrius Guice’s injury. Los Angeles has a hole on the offensive line following Russell Okung’s pulmonary embolism.
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It would be a win-win.
If not the Redskins, Philadelphia is another interesting option for Gordon’s services.
The Eagles have already expressed interest in a possible deal and have offered up Jordan Howard in addition to a mid-round pick swap. Unfortunately, Los Angeles balked at the idea of swallowing up some of Gordon’s salary in the deal, so talks didn’t go anywhere.
If Philly and Los Angeles cannot come to an agreement, don’t sleep on the 49ers.
San Francisco makes a lot of sense given that Tevin Coleman just suffered a high ankle sprain and Jerick McKinnon’s torn ACL.
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The big problem for all involved right now is that the Chargers don’t appear to be in a hurry to move Gordon.
They seem to be doing very well at running back so far without him, and Gordon has minimal leverage.
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According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, there is a very good chance Gordon returns to the Chargers around the midseason mark if he doesn’t receive a trade.
W/ LAC showing little interest in a trade, Melvin Gordon will continue to “protect himself” with holdout but will report to the team in ’19, per source. “Not a Le’Veon Bell situation,” source said. “He still wants to be a Charger.” Midseason/early Nov. return looking more likely
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 13, 2019
“W/ LAC showing little interest in a trade, Melvin Gordon will continue to “protect himself” with holdout but will report to the team in ’19, per source. “Not a Le’Veon Bell situation,” source said. “He still wants to be a Charger.” Midseason/early Nov. return looking more likely”
This falls in line with comments previously made by Los Angeles general manager Tom Telesco.
“When or if Melvin reports, he’ll play this season under his current contract, and we’ll just revisit it after the season,” he said of the situation.
Meanwhile, Telesco is more than content having Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson to shoulder the load at running back.
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“Those two guys are going to work in tandem with each other,” he added.
“I think the day and age of having to have one running back to carry it 300 times is probably not the smartest thing in the world anyways,” he continued.
“Even if you have a big, bell-cow back, you’d like to have another back to come in and spell them, give them some rest and have a different dimension. So right now we’re very happy with Austin as an every-down back.”
Where will Gordon ultimately end up?
Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
