NFL Rumors: Los Angeles Chargers Could Use Holdout Melvin Gordon In Deal To Land Jalen Ramsey
The Los Angeles Chargers could have a solution for the extended holdout from running back Melvin Gordon, one that could end up getting the team another star player in return.
Gordon has been holding out from the team through training camp and now the first two games of the season, demanding a new contract that the Chargers are not willing to offer. After the team reportedly rejected Gordon’s demand to be paid with the top running backs in the league at between $13 million and $15 million a year — and after Gordon reportedly rejected the team’s $10 million offer — the Chargers announced that negotiations would be off until the season ends, and Gordon remains away from the team.
While Gordon would need to return to the Chargers around midseason in order to get credit for the final year of his contract, a new report suggests that he may never make it back into a Chargers jersey. The Fansided blog Bolt Beat speculated that the Chargers could wind up using Gordon as trade bait to land another superstar holdout: Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Though the report noted that this would be against the Chargers’ nature, it pointed out that the hypothetical trade could wind up as a benefit for all those involved.
“For argument sake, we’ll imagine that the Chargers could gain a couple of draft picks in exchange for Gordon in these deals, and perhaps a team would even be willing to part with a second-rounder,” the report noted. “Jacksonville has stated that it would like to get two first-round picks for Ramsey, but perhaps a first and a second in next year’s draft would be enough to sway them.”
Melvin Gordon says he’s “going to play somewhere” this year because it’d be a “waste of talent” if he didn’t.
(via @eric_d_williams) pic.twitter.com/1xSgqYICo0
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 19, 2019
Melvin Gordon has already sparked trade rumors a few times during his holdout. Just a few days before the start of the NFL season, after it had become clear that there would be no last-minute breakthrough and that Gordon would be sitting out, he stirred rumors by liking the Philadelphia Eagles and several of the team’s players on Instagram.
This week, he again got the NFL rumor mill churning by retweeting a viral video of a Buffalo Bills fan initiating his infant daughter into the “Bills Mafia” by pretending to smash the baby through a folding table — which is one of the traditions among the team’s rowdy fan base.
There are no solid rumors connecting Melvin Gordon to the Buffalo Bills — or any other team, for that matter — and he would be due to report back to the Chargers by November to get credit for the final year of his deal.
