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RB Melvin Gordon, BAL (3 Viewers)

Looking around the league as to who might have interest . . .

AFC East
NYJ - No
NE - No
Buffalo - Maybe
Miami - Maybe

AFC North
PIT - No
CLE - No
Cin - No
BAL - Doubtful

AFC South
JAC - No
TEN - No
IND - Doubtful
HOU - Maybe

AFC West (Doubt they would trade him within the division)
KC - No
Oak - No
DEN - Doubtful

NFC East
DAL - No
NYG - No
WAS - Maybe
PHI - Maybe

NFC North
MIN - No
CHI - Doubtful
GB - Doubtful
DET - Doubtful

NFC South
NO - No
CAR - No
ATL - Doubtful
TB - Maybe

NFC West
LAR - No
SEA - No
ARI - No
SF - Maybe

By my count, that's 7 maybes. Another question to ask would be if a team with minimal playoff chances would be interested in acquiring Gordon. Houston has post season aspirations, but they just traded a ton of draft picks.
 

 
Looking around the league as to who might have interest . . .

AFC East
NYJ - No
NE - No
Buffalo - Maybe
Miami - Maybe

AFC North
PIT - No
CLE - No
Cin - No
BAL - Doubtful

AFC South
JAC - No
TEN - No
IND - Doubtful
HOU - Maybe

AFC West (Doubt they would trade him within the division)
KC - No
Oak - No
DEN - Doubtful

NFC East
DAL - No
NYG - No
WAS - Maybe
PHI - Maybe

NFC North
MIN - No
CHI - Doubtful
GB - Doubtful
DET - Doubtful

NFC South
NO - No
CAR - No
ATL - Doubtful
TB - Maybe

NFC West
LAR - No
SEA - No
ARI - No
SF - Maybe

By my count, that's 7 maybes. Another question to ask would be if a team with minimal playoff chances would be interested in acquiring Gordon. Houston has post season aspirations, but they just traded a ton of draft picks.
 
I think a lot of your “maybes” should be “doubtfuls”. Baltimore signed Ingram; Houston has already traded for 2 RBs this offseason; Miami is clearly tanking; Washington has Guice and Peterson. 

 
I don't see anyone trading for him unless there is a contender with a significant injury at RB.  Even still, with guys like Jay Ajayi laying around unsigned that may not happen.  He's simply not viewed as a game changing RB so he's not going to get the contract he desires.

 
Would this guy even play at his current salary if he was traded to another team? Isn’t that why he’s holding out? I don’t see any way that the 2019 Gordon believers will magically have him scoring touchdowns in another uniform any time soon. 

 
Certainly that is probably a small number. But so is the number of players that have held out into a season and missed actual games.
But the dynamic is different. For a player to hold out, that is his decision alone. For a trade to happen:

  1. Two front offices have to agree on compensation
  2. The receiving front office has to presumably come to agreement with the player on a new contract
  3. All at a time when rosters have been set and cap space is generally at a low point
I think the trade scenario is significantly less likely and would not equate the two scenarios as if they are similarly improbable.

 
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But the dynamic is different. For a player to hold out, that is his decision alone. For a trade to happen:

  1. Two front offices have to agree on compensation
  2. The receiving front office has to presumably come to agreement with the player on a new contract
  3. All at a time when rosters have been set and cap space is generally at a low point, and presumably
I think the trade scenario is significantly less likely and would not equate the two scenarios as if they are similarly improbable.
I agree that hold out trades are rare. The one I dug up was LB Cornelius Bennett, who was the 2nd overall pick by the Colts in 1987. He did not sign and got traded to the the Bills from the Colts in a three-way trade that also included the Rams Eric Dickerson and Bills running back Greg Bell. 

 
Certainly that is probably a small number. But so is the number of players that have held out into a season and missed actual games.
Players under contract holding out into the season is very rare.  The percentage that get traded is probably fairly high of that small number.  It's probably similar to the percentage of franchised tagged players who get traded.  Melvin's relationship has probably been irrevocably damaged with the Chargers.  The Chargers will probably be content to get a 2nd or 3rd round pick and be done with the matter and move on.  And Melvin's pride might make him prefer to play for another team if he is going to have to play out his contract.  Possibly the best Melvin can hope for at this point is a guarantee that he won't be tagged next year if he does report and play out the remaining year of his contract.

 
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At this point I’m kind of rooting for Gordon to slink back tomorrow & start week 1. 

Just for the total chaos it’ll cause in the FF community. I’m not invested in any of them. just good for :popcorn:

 
Players under contract holding out into the season is very rare.  The percentage that get traded is probably fairly high of that small number.  Melvin's relationship has probably been irrevocably damaged with the Chargers.  The Chargers will probably be content to get a 2nd or 3rd round pick and be done with the matter and move on.  And Melvin's pride might make him prefer to play for another team if he is going to have to play out his contract.  Possibly the best Melvin can hope for at this point is a guarantee that he won't be tagged next year if he does report and play out the remaining year of his contract.
Not so sure about that. The notoriously cheap Chargers are saving $330k a week, and they have very capable backups in Eckeler & Jackson.

i see no reason for them to budge off of their (unreasonable) trade demands, and suspect they purposely set them unreasonably high to prevent a trade from being made.

No team is going to pay a 1st and a 5th for a guy they then have to extend a new contract to in the 13M guaranteed range. It’s just not realistic a week before the season. 

 
Players under contract holding out into the season is very rare.  The percentage that get traded is probably fairly high of that small number.  It's probably similar to the percentage of franchised tagged players who get traded.  Melvin's relationship has probably been irrevocably damaged with the Chargers.  The Chargers will probably be content to get a 2nd or 3rd round pick and be done with the matter and move on.  And Melvin's pride might make him prefer to play for another team if he is going to have to play out his contract.  Possibly the best Melvin can hope for at this point is a guarantee that he won't be tagged next year if he does report and play out the remaining year of his contract.
Actually, JWB is right on this one. Very few players that hold out in to the season get traded. At this point the Chargers can either continue to play hard ball and hope he comes back . . . or they may feel he isn't worth the headache and trade him for less than they expect to get back. Gordon can decide when and if he wants to play for the amount he is due, with an eye on reporting in time to be able to count this year and be eligible for free agency. Of course, the Chargers can threaten to franchise him next year and really escalate the fireworks.

 
Guy is simply over valuing himself big time.

It is pretty incredible. 

For his career -

Averaged 907 yards rushing per year at 4 YPC 

Averaged 394 yards receiving per year at 8.7 YPC

Avg 7 TD's per year

He wants freaking Zeke and Gurley money. 

He is out of his mind. 

Take your 10MM a year and freaking thank the god's for your ability to play in the NFL as a solid NFL RB. Melvin.....you are simply not on that level.

 
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Guy is simply over valuing himself big time.

It is pretty incredible. 

For his career -

Averaged 907 yards rushing per year at 4 YPC 

Averaged 394 yards receiving per year at 8.7 YPC

Avg 7 TD's per year

He wants freaking Zeke and Gurley money. 

He is out of his mind. 

Take your 10MM a year and freaking thank the god's for your ability to play int he NFL as a solid NFL RB. Melvin.....you are simply not on that level.
Well - I don't know.  He's not Zeke or Gurley - that's for sure.  But he's no slouch.  He's light years better than Ekeler and Justin Jackson no matter what the stats say.  Eye's don't lie.  He's a game changing true 3 down back. He averaged 5.1 YPC last year.  Scored 14 TD's.  50 catches.  In 12 games.  He is really, really good.  He has skill sets many of even the top RB1's don't have.  If he would have played 16 games last year vs 12 and not be battling a fragile tag his argument would be much, much stronger.  Nobody wants to pay for durability concerns.  Zeke getting his money at least helps his cause.  Not to get that amount, but to get more than he's been offered.  Spanos may be too cheap to pay.  But somebody will, this year or next.  Judging by what Zeke got, with 2 years left on his contract, seeing LeVeon's situation last year and what Gurley/Johnson got does anybody blame him for holding out for more? I don't.  RBs had to flex muscle as they were getting absolutely used by owners.  Grind them to the ground, dump before paying beyond the rookie contract.  Tide is turning.  Rightfully so.  

 
Take your 10MM a year and freaking thank the god's for your ability to play in the NFL as a solid NFL RB. Melvin.....you are simply not on that level.
If I'm understanding the news correctly, that's been taken off the table.  At this point it's play for $5.6m or whatever his current 5th year option amount is, or don't play. 

 
Not so sure about that. The notoriously cheap Chargers are saving $330k a week, and they have very capable backups in Eckeler & Jackson.

i see no reason for them to budge off of their (unreasonable) trade demands, and suspect they purposely set them unreasonably high to prevent a trade from being made.

No team is going to pay a 1st and a 5th for a guy they then have to extend a new contract to in the 13M guaranteed range. It’s just not realistic a week before the season. 
I don't think you're wrong about no trade happening, but all the money really has to be is more than what LA was offering him.  That was reported to be just above what Freeman's deal is, which is $8.25m average per year.  Meaning that a new team might not have to pay him $13m, and maybe not even $10m a year to get him interested.  Getting the Chargers interested is a different story. 

 
He reportedly turned down $10 M per year.  That number this year would put him at #6 on the Chargers roster behind:

QB - Phil Rivers

LB - Melvin Ingram

T - Russ Okung

WR - Keenan Allen

CB - Casey Hayward

Seems reasonable to me.  Is he more valuable to the Chargers than any of those guys?

 
For RB's that have played in at least 16 games, Gordon ranks 9th in YFS per game over the past 4 years.

Bell - 137
Zeke - 131.2
Barkley - 126.75
Gurley - 110.9
Hunt - 110.5
Kamara - 101.5
McCaffrey - 95.3
Freeman - 94.7
Gordon - 94.6
D Johnson - 93.7
Fournette - 93.6
McCoy - 90.3

 
For RB's that have played in at least 16 games, Gordon ranks 9th in YFS per game over the past 4 years.

Bell - 137
Zeke - 131.2
Barkley - 126.75
Gurley - 110.9
Hunt - 110.5
Kamara - 101.5
McCaffrey - 95.3
Freeman - 94.7
Gordon - 94.6
D Johnson - 93.7
Fournette - 93.6
McCoy - 90.3
10MM a year was market value for sure. I like Gordon. I love his skill set. But he is not the most durable back and he is not on the Bell/Zeke/Barkley/Gurley level in my opinion. 

I would go higher than 10MM for him......but not much more. Maybe the Chargers are cheap......but i do not think many teams will spend more than say 11-11.5MM per year for him. 

He is no slouch.....and I understand about players getting as much as they can.

I also love when I hear guys say.....well he signed a deal he should honer it. Well owners don't. Once the guaranteed money is done they will cut yer ### with years left. This is not the NBA MLB or NHL where every penny is guaranteed. 

The players have a crappy CBA. So it also on them. Their union is extremely weak. 

But still....I think Gordon made a big mistake. 10MM a year guaranteed (I don't know any of the specifics of his deal) is solid for an NFL RB of his caliber and shelf life.

Bell will never get back what he gave up last season. He also got horrible money advice.

 
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He reportedly turned down $10 M per year.  That number this year would put him at #6 on the Chargers roster behind:

QB - Phil Rivers

LB - Melvin Ingram

T - Russ Okung

WR - Keenan Allen

CB - Casey Hayward

Seems reasonable to me.  Is he more valuable to the Chargers than any of those guys?
That's never a fair comparison as it depends on who's on rookie deals, who had to be tagged, a few stars with extensions. etc.  Personally? I think he's at least as valuable as Keenan Allen.  Talk about a guy who's fragile and limps off every other play.  Okung? Maybe he's worth more 4 years ago but you're paying for the position.  They have history.  Why didn't they pay Weddle?

And the amount per year is only one view.  Would bet my house that the Chargers lowballed the guarantee.  The market is being reset and if they want Gordon or a comparable back it's going to cost them more now.  They think they can live with Ekeler (no way can he take volume - gets his bell rung) or Jackson (limited history).  No way they are a SuperBowl contending team with that duo.  But they'll save a few bucks.

 
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He reportedly turned down $10 M per year.  That number this year would put him at #6 on the Chargers roster behind:

QB - Phil Rivers

LB - Melvin Ingram

T - Russ Okung

WR - Keenan Allen

CB - Casey Hayward

Seems reasonable to me.  Is he more valuable to the Chargers than any of those guys?
I'm wondering how accurate that report of the offer is.  What I saw was that....

"Yahoo's Charles Robinson reports the Chargers and holdout Melvin Gordon are currently $2-3 million apart in average annual value.

Per Robinson, the Chargers would be comfortable bettering Devonta Freeman's five-year, $41.25 million deal, but that Gordon is hoping for something in the range of David Johnson's three years and $39 million. That does not sound like a gap that will be bridged any time soon."

Freeman's deal was a 5 year extension (so for 5 years after 2017 when he was already under contract) with $41.25m total on it.  Really it was just a $15m signing bonus with another year of $2m guaranteed salary for 2018 and $3.75m for 2019.  Anyway, let's just say that this was the deal he was offered.  As an extension, it would mean he's still playing this year at $5.6m, and then next year at $2m, and 2021 at $3.75m....but with an extra $15m in hand today as his signing bonus (life changing money).  In total, that would be $26.35m over the next 3 seasons, guaranteed, with "funny money" (not guaranteed) there after.  Anyway, that's an average of $8.78m a year, which is still more than Freeman on an annual basis, and would still make him #5 highest paid today (after Zeke, Gurley, Bell and Johnson)....but isn't $10m a year. 

 
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I think a lot of your “maybes” should be “doubtfuls”. Baltimore signed Ingram; Houston has already traded for 2 RBs this offseason; Miami is clearly tanking; Washington has Guice and Peterson. 
Isn't it really just TB or PHI (if you they take Howard in return)?

The only other team that would have a need for him would be the Chargers.

 
He's light years better than Ekeler and Justin Jackson no matter what the stats say.  Eye's don't lie.
Light years better? I don't think so. We may soon have a larger body of evidence on Ekeler and Jackson to help support an answer one way or another.

He is really, really good.  He has skill sets many of even the top RB1's don't have.
I agree he is really good. But I personally think these RBs are all clearly better: Barkley, Elliott, McCaffrey, Kamara, Bell, and Gurley. And I think arguments could be made that he is not clearly better than Chubb, Mixon, Johnson, or Cook, he has just had more opportunity, better situation, and/or better injury luck than them. That's a lot of RBs. Not all of them deserve to be paid like a top 3-5 RB. That should actually be reserved for the ones who are, you know, top 3-5 RBs.

Gordon is also a bit of a conundrum. He is really good, yet it is a long running joke among Chargers fans that his vision is terrible. One of the reasons his ypc hasn't been very good throughout his career is due to that.

Nobody wants to pay for durability concerns
Agreed. He has had multiple injuries in his Chargers career, affecting 3 of his 4 seasons. He had a heavy workload in college and in the NFL to date, which contributes to that, but there is no reason to expect him to suddenly be consistently healthy. Especially considering he had microfracture surgery on his knee.

Spanos may be too cheap to pay.
I despise Spanos, but this is not the issue. First off, the team generally spends to the cap, which refutes that it could be 'cheapness'.

More importantly, the Chargers have to pay all of these All Pro/Pro Bowl players over the next 2 offseasons or let them walk: Rivers, Allen, Henry, Pouncey, Okung, Bosa, Ingram, Hayward, King. Every one of those guys arguably plays a more valuable position to the team than Gordon does. It just isn't possible to pay them all and also pay Gordon.

does anybody blame him for holding out for more?
Yes. I do. IMO he looks like an idiot, and he should probably fire his agent for giving him such bad advice.

 
Light years better? I don't think so. We may soon have a larger body of evidence on Ekeler and Jackson to help support an answer one way or another.

I agree he is really good. But I personally think these RBs are all clearly better: Barkley, Elliott, McCaffrey, Kamara, Bell, and Gurley. And I think arguments could be made that he is not clearly better than Chubb, Mixon, Johnson, or Cook, he has just had more opportunity, better situation, and/or better injury luck than them. That's a lot of RBs. Not all of them deserve to be paid like a top 3-5 RB. That should actually be reserved for the ones who are, you know, top 3-5 RBs.

Gordon is also a bit of a conundrum. He is really good, yet it is a long running joke among Chargers fans that his vision is terrible. One of the reasons his ypc hasn't been very good throughout his career is due to that.

Agreed. He has had multiple injuries in his Chargers career, affecting 3 of his 4 seasons. He had a heavy workload in college and in the NFL to date, which contributes to that, but there is no reason to expect him to suddenly be consistently healthy. Especially considering he had microfracture surgery on his knee.

I despise Spanos, but this is not the issue. First off, the team generally spends to the cap, which refutes that it could be 'cheapness'.

More importantly, the Chargers have to pay all of these All Pro/Pro Bowl players over the next 2 offseasons or let them walk: Rivers, Allen, Henry, Pouncey, Okung, Bosa, Ingram, Hayward, King. Every one of those guys arguably plays a more valuable position to the team than Gordon does. It just isn't possible to pay them all and also pay Gordon.

Yes. I do. IMO he looks like an idiot, and he should probably fire his agent for giving him such bad advice.
How about at least comparing apples to apples.  Gurley and Bell already got their deals.  Gurley's hurt and Bell may not be the same Bell in Pittsburgh.  Barkley, McCaffrey and Kamara still on original contracts.  Latter two will get paid soon.  BIG.  Barkley will likely set the new record when it's time.  Chubb and Mixon are 2nd/3rd year guys. Cook missed more games than he's played or pretty close.  Johnson got paid.

You lost all credibility with me by saying Gordon is not light years better than Ekeler or Jackson.  I've seen them play in person many times.  He's so much better than those 2 it's not funny.  They'll find out this year.  Gordon is a back who can get you to the SuperBowl.  Play all 3 downs.  Not Jackson on first down or 2nd down (defense expects a run) then put in Ekeler (watch for pass).  They got away with it sometimes last year and those 2 benefitted by spelling Gordon. We'll see how they hold up this year.

One could say Elliott's was an idiot for holding out with 2 years left? Was he? Everyone thought Bell's and agent were stupid - but they got their guaranteed money.  Show me how much guaranteed money the Chargers offered Gordon.  Gordon will get market value at some point.  Granted, it's lower than the big 3-4 but he's an elite back.  Imagine him in Kansas City. My God.

 
How about at least comparing apples to apples.  Gurley and Bell already got their deals.  Gurley's hurt and Bell may not be the same Bell in Pittsburgh.  Barkley, McCaffrey and Kamara still on original contracts.  Latter two will get paid soon.  BIG.  Barkley will likely set the new record when it's time.  Chubb and Mixon are 2nd/3rd year guys. Cook missed more games than he's played or pretty close.  Johnson got paid.
Yes, Gurley got paid, and it is turning out to be a bad deal for LA. Yes, Johnson got paid, and he has not played up to his contract so far. Yes, Bell got paid, and his new HC came out in the media this offseason and said the team shouldn't have paid him so much. You know who else got paid? McKinnon and Freeman, both bad deals for their teams.

Yes, Barkley, McCaffrey, and Kamara are going to get paid big contracts. All of them are better than Gordon.

You lost all credibility with me by saying Gordon is not light years better than Ekeler or Jackson...  Gordon is a back who can get you to the SuperBowl.
Well, you lost all credibility with me by taking this stance while ignoring the fact that the Chargers were 4-0 without Gordon last season, including wins over TEN in London and wins at PIT and at KC. They won 3 of their biggest games all season without him, and, yes, with Ekeler and Jackson.

Then you also ignored that Gordon had 26 carries for 55 yards and 2 catches for 14 yards in the Chargers' 2 playoff games last season but had the nerve to post he is a back who can get you to the Super Bowl. SMH.

 
10MM a year was market value for sure. I like Gordon. I love his skill set. But he is not the most durable back and he is not on the Bell/Zeke/Barkley/Gurley level in my opinion. 

I would go higher than 10MM for him......but not much more. Maybe the Chargers are cheap......but i do not think many teams will spend more than say 11-11.5MM per year for him. 

He is no slouch.....and I understand about players getting as much as they can.

I also love when I hear guys say.....well he signed a deal he should honer it. Well owners don't. Once the guaranteed money is done they will cut yer ### with years left. This is not the NBA MLB or NHL where every penny is guaranteed. 

The players have a crappy CBA. So it also on them. Their union is extremely weak. 

But still....I think Gordon made a big mistake. 10MM a year guaranteed (I don't know any of the specifics of his deal) is solid for an NFL RB of his caliber and shelf life.

Bell will never get back what he gave up last season. He also got horrible money advice.
I aways hated this argument and funny thing is I learned about this reading TO's autobiography that came out when he was with the Eagles. Many fans of other sports or just Football fans see the contract totals (Lets make this fairly easily) say a guy gets 5 yrs for $100M thats $20M a year but he might only get $35M guaranteed that maybe with bonuses (Yds gotten, catches, TKL, SKs,INTS, Pro Bowls, MVP/Sb MVP. Leading rushing etc) maybe he gets another $10m-15M. So he's up to 50M gauranteed in 3 yrs. Now say the team owes little money in the next 2 maybe 5M maybe less on the contract. The team releases him year 4. He may have only made 52.5M out of the 100M he signed. Thats over $45M he's not getting. 

Look at the contracts in Basketball and Baseball and you don't see many high paid contracts get cut. Why? The WHOLE CONTRACT IS GUARANTEED. Ya think after all the ARod stuff the Yanks would've loved to not have had guarantee contracts in Baseball and they could've rid themselves of a headache sooner? What about The Giants and Barry Zito? They literally DL'd him for the 2nd half of a season with a phantom injury just so they wouldn't have to play him. In Football you get cut you you aren't seeing all that money 100M you signed ever. 

I think paying high on any RB in todays league is horrible. I think Zeke is good but how good would he be without that Dallas Offensive line? It's not just the RB but the guys he has in front blocking for him. Sometimes its easier for teams to try and stop the run when teams know the only threat is an RB. I use to argue this on an old board why cutting Desean Jackson hurt the Eagles and Shady in the run game. Teams could play up on the line and with no deep threat to worry about you didn't have to back off the line all the time. At that time the Eagles had literally no one who could beat anyone 1v1. Shady still put up decent numbers that final year but no where close IMHO he'd have gotten if DeSean had been there. Its not just your talent but the Guys around you

 
I'd hate to be drafted by the Chargers. You know they are going to play hardball with you from day one. It just wouldn't be fun in that environment.
On the flip side, you also know you are going to be on a playoff contender. There are a lot of players who would happily sacrifice 2-3 million a year to play for a good team. 

Also, while this isn't directed at you. I hate how a lot of this thread(and the Zeke thread) has become about owners v.players, and how its crazy to side with billion dollar owners. Nobody is saying don't pay players, the people such as myself who hated the Elliott deal, and would have zero interest in Gordon at 10 million a year, aren't saying guys shouldn't get paid, just not RB's, over other more valuable positions. 

 
How often has a player held out into a regular season and then been traded to another team? I don't know the answer.


Keenan McCardell held out under contract and was traded shortly before the trade deadline.  And then he was forced to return $1.5 million of his signing bonus.  It is extremely rare for a player to hold out into the season when they are under contract.  This situation is a little different than most because Melvin kind of got the shaft when they slapped the 5th year option on him which is the average of the 3rd to 25th highest paid players at the position in the previous year because he was drafted between 11th and 32nd.  Technically he is under contract but this feels similar to a player who is slapped with the franchise tag, except he is being paid way less.  The 5th year option seems extremely unfair especially for a running back whose career is usually short.

 
On the flip side, you also know you are going to be on a playoff contender. There are a lot of players who would happily sacrifice 2-3 million a year to play for a good team. 

Also, while this isn't directed at you. I hate how a lot of this thread(and the Zeke thread) has become about owners v.players, and how its crazy to side with billion dollar owners. Nobody is saying don't pay players, the people such as myself who hated the Elliott deal, and would have zero interest in Gordon at 10 million a year, aren't saying guys shouldn't get paid, just not RB's, over other more valuable positions. 
SD can playoff all they want they ain't winning a title behind that terrible OL with the non mobile QB they have right now. I'm pretty happy about that. The Chargers are starting to get a reputation that might hurt them in the future. 

Instead of holding these guys hostage teams should just trade the disgruntled RB to a team for a 3rd round pick and move on. 

 
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Works for the Patriots.

Remember when Jamie Collins wanted big $$$? Boom, you're now a Cleveland Brown.
I mentioned this in several threads. This wouldn’t have happened in NE, as BB would not put up with it. They would say you have a contract, play it out. Then they would talk after. Play or don’t play. Up to you. Just don’t expect more money. You might get traded to the Cardinals. Or Lions. Or the Niners. Or Dolphins. Or another less than desirable location. BB might even take pennies on the dollar on exchange. But you aren’t going to walk into his office and demand a ton more money. He might throw you a bone and tack on some incentives. Brady and Gronk couldn’t even get a new deal with guaranteed money. No way, no how could a RB on a rookie deal be able to. 

 
SD can playoff all they want they ain't winning a title behind that terrible OL with the non mobile QB they have right now. I'm pretty happy about that. The Chargers are starting to get a reputation that might hurt them in the future. 

Instead of holding these guys hostage teams should just trade the disgruntled RB to a team for a 3rd round pick and move on. 
Wait no one wants to pay Gordon, let alone give up a 3 round pick.

 
Well, you lost all credibility with me by taking this stance while ignoring the fact that the Chargers were 4-0 without Gordon last season, including wins over TEN in London and wins at PIT and at KC. They won 3 of their biggest games all season without him, and, yes, with Ekeler and Jackson.

Then you also ignored that Gordon had 26 carries for 55 yards and 2 catches for 14 yards in the Chargers' 2 playoff games last season but had the nerve to post he is a back who can get you to the Super Bowl. SMH.
Gordon, like Gurley, was hurt at the end of the season. So you want fact checking? Let's go.  Against Tennessee Ekeler had 12 carries for 42 with 26 yards receiving.  Against Pittsburgh he had 13 carries for 21 (that's right) yards and 22 yards receiving.  In the win against KC he didn't have a carry or a catch.  Still want to play?  To even suggest Austin freakin' Ekeler or Justin Jackson is anywhere, anywhere close to Melvin Gordon is a complete farce.  They won those 3 games on the back of Rivers, who was lights out on the road last year.  Nothing to do with Ekeler or Jackson.

Edited to eat a little crow - Jackson did have decent games vs. Pitt and KC.  We'll see.

 
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Gopher State said:
Wait no one wants to pay Gordon, let alone give up a 3 round pick.
Then a 4th round pick. The point is he's taken a lot of damage for the Chargers. They can trade him. 

 
Judge Smails said:
Gordon, like Gurley, was hurt at the end of the season. So you want fact checking? Let's go.  Against Tennessee Ekeler had 12 carries for 42 with 26 yards receiving.  Against Pittsburgh he had 13 carries for 21 (that's right) yards and 22 yards receiving.  In the win against KC he didn't have a carry or a catch.  Still want to play?  To even suggest Austin freakin' Ekeler or Justin Jackson is anywhere, anywhere close to Melvin Gordon is a complete farce.  They won those 3 games on the back of Rivers, who was lights out on the road last year.  Nothing to do with Ekeler or Jackson.

Edited to eat a little crow - Jackson did have decent games vs. Pitt and KC.  We'll see.
The first point is, they didn’t need Gordon to win some of the biggest games of their season.

The second point, which you ignored, is that Gordon completely sucked in the playoffs, yet you referenced him as a RB who can take a team to a Super Bowl. 

We are both on record. You think Ekeler and Jackson will suck and the Chargers will suffer so much that they will not be able to contend without Gordon. I disagree. 

I will note something here. Both of these things can be true: Gordon can be better than Ekeler and Jackson AND Ekeler and Jackson can be good enough and play well enough for the team to achieve its goals. You don’t seem to be making room for this to be true. 

We will know soon enough. 

 
The Chargers will get a 3rd round compensatory pick when Gordon signs with another team. No point in trading him for less. 
Good point. It looks like more RB are going to start doing this so teams should be ready to offer up big contracts or see RB holding out until they have to come back. 

 
The Chargers will get a 3rd round compensatory pick when Gordon signs with another team. No point in trading him for less. 
As I outlined earlier, the best third round compensatory pick is essentially an early 4th round pick (the best one comes after all the 3rd round picks have been made). Given the exploding salaries of free agents of late at other positions, Gordon might only qualify for a 4th round compensatory pick (which is essentially an early 5th round pick). The other issue is that compensatory picks would be for two drafts away. Most teams look at picks from future drafts beyond the next one at a discount. Since it is further into the future and the team would have to wait, generally speaking, those future picks usually get valued as one round later than they actually are. So what you call a 3rd round compensatory, which is really an early 4th round pick, would be considered essentially an early 5th round pick in terms of trade value. If Gordon were to fall to the 4th round compensatory pick level, that would essentially be worth an early 6th round pick in trade value. And if the Chargers signed a high priced free agent with a similar average annual contract value next off season, they would not get anything for Gordon as far as compensatory picks go.

That's how NFL GM's look at things. So IMO, an offer of a 3rd round pick in the upcoming 2020 draft carries far more trade capital than a chance at a 3rd round compensatory pick in the 2021 draft (if they even earn one for Gordon).

 
I've posed this question to a few people:  "Which Gordon will have more fantasy points this year, Josh or Melvin?"

Most everybody is saying Josh will do something stupid to get suspended again and that Melvin will have more points but I think Melvin isn't coming back or getting traded anytime soon and Josh will have more points.

 
any chance the Packers come knocking?  Gordon is leaps and bounds better than Jones and he'll be out of the conference 
GB would face the same issues being discussed in here. If they view him as a one year only rental option, would Gordon play for another team if he is holding out for a new contract with a lot of it guaranteed? If they want to give him a new contract and overpay financially (he's probably a Top 10-12 back wanted Top 3 money), then what would they be willing to give up in draft picks when they would also have to give him big money? I don't see any team forking over a first round pick for Gordon. I can't even remember the last time a RB got traded for a first round pick.

Gordon wants too much money, the Chargers want too much in a trade for Gordon, the team won't negotiate a new deal with Gordon, and teams won't want to give up much for a player that is refusing to play unless he cashes in. None of that bodes well for a trade getting consummated or Gordon getting back on the field.

 
As I outlined earlier, the best third round compensatory pick is essentially an early 4th round pick (the best one comes after all the 3rd round picks have been made). Given the exploding salaries of free agents of late at other positions, Gordon might only qualify for a 4th round compensatory pick (which is essentially an early 5th round pick). The other issue is that compensatory picks would be for two drafts away. Most teams look at picks from future drafts beyond the next one at a discount. Since it is further into the future and the team would have to wait, generally speaking, those future picks usually get valued as one round later than they actually are. So what you call a 3rd round compensatory, which is really an early 4th round pick, would be considered essentially an early 5th round pick in terms of trade value. If Gordon were to fall to the 4th round compensatory pick level, that would essentially be worth an early 6th round pick in trade value. And if the Chargers signed a high priced free agent with a similar average annual contract value next off season, they would not get anything for Gordon as far as compensatory picks go.

That's how NFL GM's look at things. So IMO, an offer of a 3rd round pick in the upcoming 2020 draft carries far more trade capital than a chance at a 3rd round compensatory pick in the 2021 draft (if they even earn one for Gordon).


Not necessarily.


Yes, understand where compensatory draft picks fall, and understand that there is no guarantee. However, Gordon is likely to sign for a high average salary and presumably is likely to play enough for his next team in 2020 to grade high in the compensatory formula. It is rare that the Chargers sign external free agents to high average salaries, so it seems likely that the Gordon compensatory pick will be a 3rd round pick.

These picks have been valuable to the Chargers. There are 13 players drafted in the 4th round or later since 2016 on the Chargers' current roster, and another on IR. So Telesco has had a high success rate with his late round picks, and I can assure you that Telesco will value a 3rd or 4th round compensatory pick.

 
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