Los Angeles Chargers must bite the bullet and pay Melvin Gordon

The Los Angeles Chargers and running back Melvin Gordon are in a contract standoff with training camp just getting underway.

The Los Angeles Chargers find themselves in one of the worst positions to be in during training camp ahead of a year where the team has a legitimate Super Bowl-contending roster: in a contract standoff with one of the team’s best players, Melvin Gordon.

Gordon did not report to training camp as promised and will continue to not report with the team until he gets a new contract. If he does not get a new contract, Gordon reportedly is going to demand a trade.

Of course, the Chargers do not have to meet those demands. So while Gordon can demand a trade and sit out, the Chargers do not have to grant his wishes of being traded and can instead make him sit out an entire year.

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That is obviously not what anyone wants and Chargers’ general manager Tom Telesco said that there is no ill-will towards Gordon and that his only thought process is that he is still a Charger (h/t ESPN).

These comments indicate that the team is feeling no sense of urgency in reaching a new deal, even with the threat of him not reporting to camp or playing at all next season.

The hope seems to be that he will eventually cave in with all of the fines sent his way for not reporting or that he and the team can meet in the middle on a contract.

We have not yet heard what exactly Gordon wants but if it is reasonable, then the Los Angeles Chargers need to just bite the bullet and pay the man to get him back on the field.

Gordon can’t just ask for some absurd contract that he knows no team will be willing to offer and he has to evaluate the market. Todd Gurley is currently signed to a four-year, $57.5 million contract so realistically the ceiling on Gordon’s contract is somewhere around four years and $50 million.

Gordon has proven to be an elite back when healthy but he has not always been healthy, thus why he deserves $7.5 million less than the best running back in the league. If Gordon thinks he deserves as much if not more than Gurley, well, he is in for a rude awakening when he is eventually a free agent.

Regardless, Gordon is an elite-level back that helps serve as the motor of the Chargers’ offense. When Gurley is in the lineup and being called on frequently it opens the passing game and takes much of the stress off of Philip Rivers.

Gordon is a threat in both the running game and the passing game as he is one of the best receiving backs in the league. He truly does do it all and having that kind of impact playmaker is going to be huge when the weather gets colder during the postseason.

Some would argue the contrary. The Chargers were 4-0 without Gordon last season and have Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson to carry the load without him. Add in his injury past and it is very easy to make the case against paying Gordon.

However, the one thing the Chargers have right now is cap flexibility. Philip Rivers is in the last year of his contract and is not going to get some massive contract at age 38 when he is a free agent. Thus, the team will either be paying Rivers less or will have a rookie quarterback under contract.

Most of the impact players are still on their rookie deals, giving the Chargers’ plenty of time before they have to cross that bridge. With Russell Okung‘s contract expiring after the 2020 season, the Chargers will definitely have the cap space in the future to re-sign the likes of Derwin James and Mike Williams.

The only player that might be impacted by this is Joey Bosa. However, he is set to be a free agent after Okung’s contract expires, which instantly opens up the space for the Chargers to re-sign him.

But if we are being completely honest, Bosa has never really seemed emphatic about being a Charger. Even with the money available, it is easy to see him signing elsewhere once his rookie deal is up.

At the end of the day, the Los Angeles Chargers find themselves in the rare position with no big contracts currently on the team and only one other potentially big contract on the horizon.

Because of that, the team needs to just go for it while the Super Bowl window is actually open and re-sign Melvin Gordon. These windows don’t last forever.