Los Angeles Chargers: How Le’Veon Bell signing affects Melvin Gordon

Le’Veon Bell found a new home with the New York Jets in a contract that affects the Los Angeles Chargers future with Melvin Gordon.

The Le’Veon Bell saga with the Pittsburgh Steelers is officially over as it was announced on Tuesday night that Bell signed a four-year deal with the New York Jets worth $52.5 million. Not only is this a breath of fresh air, but it will also affect the Los Angeles Chargers and running back Melvin Gordon.

When you break down Bell’s contract he did lose money and this contract seems to be more of a jab at the Steelers than anything else.

The Steelers offered Bell a five-year, $70 million contract before this fiasco happened, which Bell turned down because he thought he could get more.

He then missed out on $14.5 million with the franchise tag this season, which might’ve been smart for the long-term, as he could have sustained an injury that hurt his value.

Either way, if he plays through that franchise tag then he probably could have gotten $60 million from the Jets and would have come out with more money. However, Bell is now $17.5 million under. But hey! Slightly more guaranteed money.

So how does this affect the Los Angeles Chargers?

Melvin Gordon is a free agent after the 2019 season and is one of the best young backs in the league. This is his first contract year so it is safe to assume that he will be effective throughout a four or five-year deal. He will be turning 26 prior to the 2019 season, a year younger than Bell is right now.

And while has proven he is a top-five running back in the league when healthy, Gordon has never been considered the best back in the league, as Bell was prior to this holdout. Not to mention that Gordon does have an injury history, which might hurt his chances of a decent contract.

However, this is the best back that the Chargers have had since LaDainian Tomlinson and the team might be paying a quarterback on a rookie contract in the very near future. If not, a veteran Philip Rivers certainly won’t be worth the same price.

What Bell got this offseason, not what he was offered before, seems like a fair price for Melvin Gordon.

The Chargers best route in this is to offer four years, $48 million to Gordon. Still less than Bell but a large contract for a running back nonetheless. If the Chargers really want they can extend it to five years and $60 million, which Gordon would obviously accept over four years.

The trick here is offering more guaranteed money. While it is more of a risk, offering more guaranteed money will help the team lure Gordon away from the opposition.

Make the first two years of his deal fully guaranteed, moving his guaranteed money up to $24 million. Over the last two (or three) years of his deal, make three-fourths of it guaranteed ($8 million).

That means over four years he would be getting $40 million guaranteed, $48 million across five years.

It is a bigger risk but it prevents the team from having to offer Gordon a contract like Todd Gurley received or even the one Bell was offered initially.

Some would say that is overpaying for a running back and that is true in some cases. In this case, the Los Angeles Chargers will have the money to spend and should keep the motor of the offense around.