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Ladies and gentlemen, we have our running back holdout of 2019:
Los Angeles running back Melvin Gordon has informed the Chargers that unless he receives a new contract, he will not report to training camp and he will demand a trade, his agent Fletcher Smith told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 11, 2019
After Le’Veon Bell sat out last season in order to get his payday, Melvin Gordon seems to be doing the same thing to the Los Angeles Chargers. And my response: Good for you Melvin. You play a position that has the shortest shelf life in the NFL and you have every right to get your money when you can. Get that bag!
Now we’ve seen these player holdouts go a couple of different ways in the past few years. I already mentioned Bell sitting out a year to then hit free agency, but we’ve also seen the Khalil Mack situation where the holdout gets traded to a new team who’s willing to give him the money he’s looking for.
Because we’re in the offseason, with nothing to do or write about except for wild speculations, let’s do just that and pick which teams would do well in trading for Gordon if he does indeed become available.
Houston Texans
Can’t have an article about a Pro-Bowl running back on the trade block and not mention the team that maybe needs a running back more than any other team out there. The Lamar Miller experiment is well past its expiration date and it’s time for the Texans to move on. We’ve seen the dual threat Gordon can be in the Chargers’ offense, imagine what he could be in an offense sharing a backfield with Deshaun Watson. I also want this to happen from a fantasy perspective because I just feel like there’s a lot of fantasy potential in the Texans’ backfield that has yet to be fully tapped into. Gordon could be just the guy to do that.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs might have surpassed the Packers as the team that everyone wants to send any available skill position player to because they know they’ll be amazing there. That being said, Gordon would be amazing in Kansas City. We know what Andy Reid’s offense can do with versatile running back (see: Hunt, Kareem) and I’m not sold on Damien Williams being that guy. Gordon would slide perfectly into the Chiefs’ backfield and add yet another explosive weapon to that high powered offense.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Can we please just give the Bucs some semblance of a ground game this season? Is that too much to ask? The Bucs’ backfield has become the Defense Against the Dark Arts position of the NFL: every year someone new gets thrown at it and almost always fails miserably. Giving Bruce Arians a talented back such as Gordon to actually gameplan with would be a much needed addition for a backfield that currently boasts Peyton Barber, Ronald Jones and Andre Ellington. Not exactly the depth chart to set the world on fire. Plus, a reliable ground game might help Jameis Winston finally become the quarterback Tampa has been waiting for and hopefully mitigate the mistakes he often puts the offense into.
Buffalo Bills
Why the Bills? Because this is where teams send players who demand trades. I’m only partially kidding. Honestly though, the Bills can’t feel too confident in going into this season with 30-year-old LeSean McCoy and 300-year-old Frank Gore as their starting two backs. McCoy looked far from his young-self last year and Gore looked... actually Frank Gore somehow ran for 200 more yards than McCoy last year. Forget what I said, Frank Gore 2020! In an offense that still needs a few more explosive pieces, adding Gordon would do a lot to make the offense more dynamic and aid Josh Allen’s development.
In this hypothetical world where Gordon is certainly going to get traded, where do you want to see him go? Leave your team in the comments.