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I don't know if it's different with a rookie contract or because it was the franchise tag but didn't we learn from the Lev Bell situation that you don't have to show up at all and you can still hit free agency?
No you have to play the 6 games to accure the year...vincent jackson reported after week10 that one season...
I have to think there’s some differences between a signed rookie contract and an unsigned franchise tag.
LeVeon Bell was not under contract for the year he sat out. Gordon is.
To where?? Most teams have their rb situation....no team will give up assets plus pay gordon....
I agree its better to have Gordon than not have Gordon, but I like Ekeler a lot more than you do it seems. I think he's capable of being a 250 touch(say 175 carries and 75 catches) guy. I disagree that Jackson looked better. He played better in the Steelers game, although almost all his work came in the 2nd half, but Ekeler firmly outplayed him in the other games Gordon missed, and was far more effective in the passing game.
I hope the Chargers don't cave. As far as I'm concerned, he can hold out for the entire season, and he will just hurt himself in the same way Bell hurt himself. The Chargers are good enough to win without Gordon IMO, and I do not want to see them give him a contract to his satisfaction.
I disagree....ekeler looked great as a #2 option tearing up bad arizona san fran and bills teams last year after gordon softened them up...i want to win a gd superbowl and the best way to do that is to have melvin as ur starting rb
Yes, and it is also worth noting that they have another RB who has also looked good - Detrez Newsome. IMO Ekeler, Newsome, and Jackson would be a great trio, and the Chargers wouldn't miss a beat as long as they stay healthy.
100% agree with the bolded.
Good, that means the Chargers have taken an appropriate position on this, at least so far.
Eh I mean the Chargers system/Rivers very well could get good production from that trio and continue to win but in no way is the trio going to be considered great. They’d be one of the lesser proven/worst units in the league.
The Chargers were 4-0 in games Gordon missed last season, including road/neutral wins over TEN and PIT, and 9-5 in games he played. They will be just fine without him.
They may have taken the appropriate position, but they didn't make the appropriate actions.
While true.....melvin hovered around 3.9 a carry....in 2018 he averaged over 5.0...very efficient and had several long tds.....
I never disputed that. You said the trio of Ekeler, Jackson, and Newsome was great when really they’d be considered bottom of the barrel around the league.I stand by my take. The engine of the Chargers offense is Rivers, not Gordon.
If it wasn't for that 2018 season, it would be laughable that the team would even consider giving him a deal approaching what Bell got. I don't really think ANY RB deserves that type of deal in a passing league by the NFL but at least you could argue that a Zeke Elliot or a Gurley before the knee issue was the "tractor and not the trailer". Before 2018 I would argue Gordon was the mudflaps, barely a part of the trailer. Yeah, they made the whole trip.... well, almost..... but he just soaked up whatever touches were given to him. Nobody thought the Patriots would give Blount big money after his best season with the Patriots either.
The Chargers offense makes RBs look better than most offenses around the league, mainly because of Rivers. So it doesn't really matter much if they would be considered bottom of the barrel around the league. I'm also not sure that is true, anyway.
What makes Bernard (today) or Burkhead better than Ekeler and Jackson? I don't see that.
I don't think Bernard, Burkhead, or Ajayi, are better than Ekeler. All of them also have trouble staying healthy as well. Maybe my head is in the sand, but I think the Charger think very highly of Ekeler, and that is why, whether they saw this coming or not, they are highly unlikely to make any panic moves. In the 3 games Ekeler started last season, he got 17, 18, and 17 touches, that would come out to 277 over the course of the season, which is probably slightly on the high side, but 250 is doable.
Does he think this hurts the chargers? Saves them money and keeps him fresh for the back half of the season. They can win 10 to 12 games without him.
If you think any negotiations with the bosas are going to go smooth........
And, on that last part, I made this post several weeks ago about the Chargers 2020 cap. They really can't afford to pay Gordon anything close to what he wants. At least not if they are planning to have Rivers around beyond this season.
Really? So the Chargers are just so loaded at rb that they can lose their bellcow yet still have enough talent at rb to be league average or so with their backups (a 7th rounder and 2 UDFAs). Come on man. It doesn’t matter how good you think the system will make any back look, more talent is always better. Look at the Pats. They make James White look good in their system. Now imagine if it were Kamara in that role. Think that’d be a little better?Just Win Baby said:
The point is that it doesn't really matter because they're winning SB's without Kamara and with White. You're kinda making the guy's point for him.
I completely agree. I'm not sure how that is related to having Bernard, Burkhead, or Ajayi on the roster. I think any team would be stupid to think any ONE of those guys is all that they need for the entire season at RB. All those guys on the list seem like RBBC guys to me. Maybe I'm crazy.travdogg said:
Who was the highest paid RB on the SuperBowl champion Patriots? If Gordon walks at the end of next season and becomes a FA, what is the probability that the Patriots would give Gordon that shiny new contract? Is that because they are smart, or a poorly run football team?
I think you’re missing my point then. I’m not arguing that they should pay Melvin or need him to win a Super Bowl. They can allocate their money differently and that’s fine and not the point at all. My sole point is that the trio of Ekeler, Jackson, and Newsome isn’t “great”. Its a subpar backfield on paper. And they can certainly get league average production from them because of Rivers and the system and the guys around them on offense. Not disputing that. Again my point is from a talent perspective that group would start 2019 as a bottom tier backfield. If you’d like to take the opposite stance on that then tell me which backfields you think have less talent.
See above. That’s not my point. I’m talking about talent and disputed the guy’s original take that the trio minus Gordon is great. I’m not arguing to pay Melvin.
Yeah, I agree with your point about the "trio".
Ok, the last SB champ that wasn't the Patriots was the Eagles. What was their highest paid RB?
Now he's not in the Elliot, Gurley, Barkley, Kamara tier but this is a ridiculous statement. Gordon is a talented cat who is definitely an excellent RB in this league. Now with his injury history and how the RB has been devalued over the years it's fair to argue he's not worth a new multi-year contract. That's more than fair and probably accurate but the Chargers offense would take a bit of a hit without him despite what you all seem to think.
You said this. I assumed you meant could their production be league average, so I said yes, which it turns out you agree with, bolded below:
So that's my bad. What it seems you were referring to in terms of "could they be league average" is this concept of talent. Where would they be ranked on a list of NFL backfield talent if there was one. And I guess you're right that without Gordon everyone would agree they don't have a very talented backfield, but would they care if they were still squeezing production out of it?
Sorry that wasn’t clear. Yes I meant talent. A good qb or system or team situation can get more production out of middling talent. I’d add though that if a team can get average production out of middling talent, then wouldn’t you think they could get good or elite production out of better talent? Again not advocating for paying Melvin or for teams throwing money at every productive running back. But it certainly helps a team to have better talent at that position. From there they can determine how much and is it worth it.
Why would Weber, Williams, or Holyfield be any better of an option than Justin Jackson? They all have similar draft capital. Don't get stuck in the trap of thinking that because some FFers thought these guys were going to be day 2 picks 8 months before the draft, that the NFL thinks they're any better than the 6th/7th round prospects that they and Jackson are.BoltBacker said:
