Melvin Gordon Might Be Back Soon
Melvin Gordon, in the final year of his rookie deal, has been holding out from the Chargers over the last several months. While his replacement in Austin Ekeler has been serviceable, the Chargers are 1-2 and their season is in danger of spiraling out of their control if they don't turn it around. It was nevertheless somewhat eyebrow-raising when a reporter from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, of all places, said the running back would be reporting soon:
#Chargers holdout #MelvinGordon will report to the team on Thursday, told today to the #ClevelandPlainDealer by a source close to the situation.
— Branson Wright (@BransonWright) September 25, 2019
Gordon has been a contract holdout since the start of training camp. Gordon will become an unrestricted free agent in 2020.
Sure, yeah, okay. But then! Adam Schefter followed up with a report that was a little bit hedged but could indicate that Wright was on the right track:
Chargers’ RB Melvin Gordon’s holdout could soon be coming to an end, though no final decisions have made when to report, per league sources. He had planned to return at some point in October, but could soon be moving up his reporting date.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 25, 2019
It's unclear right now if this means that the Chargers are going to give Gordon more money in the form of either an immediate raise or more long-term guarantees than they had previously offered on a contract extension, or if Gordon would just be returning without that olive branch. Either way, this all seems like good news for the dozens of Chargers fans out there.