Los Angeles Chargers: The complete picture that Melvin Gordon is missing

Melvin Gordon has not gotten the contract he wants from the Los Angeles Chargers and is now requesting a trade out of Los Angeles.

The Melvin Gordon contract dispute with the Los Angeles Chargers has gotten to the point that no fan wanted to see it get to as Gordon’s agent has now requested a trade from the Los Angeles Chargers (h/t ESPN).

Damarius Bilbo is the same agent that represents Jarvis Landry and was able to get him out of Miami, so there is some history there.

The Chargers didn’t just give up on Gordon, either. The two sides were engaged in contract talks with the Chargers’ final offer being in the $10 million per year range. It is unclear how long the contract was, but $10 million a season would have given him the fourth-largest average annual value in the league, per Spotrac.

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Gordon is an elite back and is a top-five back when healthy, so that may be a fair assessment of his worth. Keep in mind that he did miss four games last year and at $10 million would only be making $4.5 million less per year than Todd Gurley and around $3 million less than David Johnson and Le’Veon Bell.

Admittedly, Gordon is one of the most underpaid athletes in the league this season as he is set to make $5.6 million in 2019. However, the $10 million per year is absolutely fair and the most I personally would be willing to spend would be $12 million per year on a four-year, $48 million deal.

The Chargers have the cap to afford that contract and as I fan, I would not be all that bothered to see Gordon making $12 million per year. But if he is asking for even more than that, well, he is delusional.

And quite frankly, there is a massive problem with this entire debacle that is not going to favor Gordon. I respect a player’s right to put himself first and I do think players need more power in the NFL but that does not mean you can dictate everything in the league.

So Gordon wants a trade. There are two possibilities: he can either get traded to a contender that could use an elite running back (like the Green Bay Packers) but still not get a contract extension. In that case, does Gordon even play? Or does he sit out a year and not risk injury for one year with the team?

Based on his actions thus far, I would say the former. Why would he play for a different team that does not want to extend him but not play for the Chargers?

The other option is to trade him to a team that needs a running back and has cap space. Both Florida teams, the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, need a running back and have cap space for 2020.

However, adding Gordon would defeat the purpose of tanking, something both teams should be inclined to do with their current quarterback situations. Maybe they would be willing to talk to him after the season, as the New York Jets with Bell, but giving up a draft pick for him wouldn’t be wise in their case.

The Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts would both benefit greatly from adding Gordon and have a plethora of cap space in 2020. However, there is no chance the Los Angeles Chargers would trade Gordon to an AFC playoff team. That would be asinine.

And when you look at it through this lens, it is clear that there really are no realistic trade partners to fit all the needs. The realistic trade partners that help Gordon would be silly for the Chargers to do business with and the teams that could use Gordon and would be willing to give up draft picks likely can’t extend him past this year.

And here’s the biggest thing: the Los Angeles Chargers are not being stingy. Not paying running backs is a league-wide narrative and there probably is no team out there that is willing to pay Gordon what Johnson, Bell and Gurley are making, especially after Johnson and Gurley’s health issues.

So the absolute ceiling for Gordon might be $12 million per year. So does he take that extra $2 million per year to go to a terrible team like the Dolphins and risk being irrelevant for four years?

Also, keep in mind, if he sits out this year then he will only be making $3 million more altogether than he would have if he just played this year and took the $10 million-per-year deal afterward.

California does have some pretty brutal income tax but I am pretty sure that extra $3 million could be made up in marketing opportunities in Los Angeles, especially if the Los Angeles Chargers are Super Bowl contenders with the new stadium coming.

This is just another instance of a player betting on himself, which is fine, I support it. However, something tells me that his agent is puffing his head up a little bit too much, making Gordon think that he is going to get a much larger deal from other teams.

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That simply isn’t the case. And if he isn’t smart, he could end up losing money in the long-run like Le’Veon Bell did with his hold out.

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