Melvin Gordon has not yet reported to the Los Angeles Chargers with less than three weeks remaining until the start of the regular season, and it could be quite a while before that changes if he is waiting for the team to make him the highest-paid running back in football.
Gordon has been holding out for five weeks now and he and the Chargers are “millions apart” in their contract negotiations, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Gordon is seeking a deal that would pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of the $13 million per year Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson get, but the Chargers have not come close to that number. Fowler reports that there have been discussions about bridging the gap, yet the two sides are still not close to any agreement.
All indications are that the Chargers are prepared to call Gordon’s bluff. The running back said this week that he is “just waiting on the call,” but he could be waiting beyond Week 1 if he expects an offer that is going to make him one of the top two or three highest-paid backs in the NFL.
Gordon is set to earn $5.6 million in the final year of his rookie contract this season, and LA has the option of using the franchise tag on him next offseason. That would make the situation even messier, but it gives the team leverage. The 26-year-old wants to be traded if the Chargers aren’t going to extend him, but the team has shown no willingness to accommodate that request. It seems possible that he could continue his holdout through the start of the regular season.
