Does Melvin Gordon Make Any Sense for the Eagles?
Preseason football is over, and teams are gearing up and polishing their last details en route to their Week 1 matchups. Roster cuts are done, depth charts are out and the fantasy football circuit is in full swing.
It’s almost time to finally watch our favorite star players battle it out on the gridiron.
However, even this close to the start of the season, two superstar running backs remain on holdouts: Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys and Melvin Gordon of the Los Angeles Chargers. Now, Zeke is probably going to get his money sooner rather than later, but Gordon’s case appears to be a bit more complicated.
First of all, the Chargers simply don’t want to pay him what he’s reportedly seeking, which is about $13-15M with a lot of guaranteed money. Secondly, they already have a potential bell-cow back in Austin Ekeler, who has been one of the most efficient backs in football, albeit in limited carries. And lastly, LA has already reportedly given permission for Gordon’s camp to actively seek a trade.
This is where the Eagles come in. As usual, any time a star player (or former Eagle) becomes available, they’re immediately linked to the Birds, mainly because of how aggressive GM Howie Roseman has been in searching for ways to put the roster in the best possible shape. And it’s obviously no different with Gordon. He apparently followed a lot of profiles related to the Eagles on Instagram right after his trade permission was given, and Eagles online fandom immediately went bonkers over it, even though there were no official reports of interest from Philadelphia’s side.
On the surface, this looks like a match made in heaven. One of the most dynamic and versatile runners in football, joining an offensive juggernaut with a plethora of weapons, a great offensive line, and an MVP-caliber QB already in place? It’s the stuff of dreams. But once we take a closer look, it gets much trickier than that.
For starters, there’s the compensation. Gordon’s availability comes through a trade, and the Chargers are obviously not going to just give one of their premier assets away for nothing. One could assume that OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai could be a player of their interest. Then there’s the money factor: it’s highly, highly unlikely that Roseman would give a contract worth over $13M a year to a running back, especially given that he has not given anything close to that to the position in his tenure as GM. Going even further there’s the running back room issue. The team traded for Jordan Howard, spent a second-round pick on Miles Sanders and re-signed Darren Sproles, to go along with Corey Clement. Even for a committee approach, that’s a whole lot of running backs to keep on the roster.
All things considered, it’s really hard to picture a context in which Gordon actually does wear the Midnight Green anytime soon. There are just too many obstacles and, although it would clearly set up a potentially historic offensive crew, too many risks to go with it.
Of course, Howie could go and make the deal happen tomorrow, given how aggressive he is, but the probability of that happening is slim at best.
Let’s count on Sanders & Co. to carry the load on the ground, hopefully on the way to the playoffs.
Photo: Robert Hanashiro / USA Today Sports
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