Minor freak out this Labor Day weekend when holdout Chargers running back Melvin Gordon began following the Philadelphia Eagles on Instagram.

What does it mean?

Probably nothing, since 48 hours have now come and gone without any movement. The Chargers seem to be totally “meh” with Gordon’s contract situation, as Ian Rapoport reports that Los Angeles is “preparing to play without” the running back while head coach Anthony Lynn offered this:

“My concern right now is on Indianapolis. We’ve talked about that for a long time. I’m just ready to move on — we’re playing games.”

Lynn said he did not address Gordon’s holdout or contract situation with his team.

“Not at all,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this for a month and a half. Now, it’s time to play football.”

General Manager Tom Telesco said this weekend that the team would not hold any kind of contract talks with Gordon until the end of the season, so it seems like things have hit a standstill over there, unless we’re playing a very poorly disguised game of chicken.

But if the Eagles were to make a move for Gordon, they could absolutely fit him in.


He’s entering the fifth and final year of his rookie deal and set to earn $5.6 million. He wants a long-term contract and will be looking for an extension, but if you can offer the Chargers something of reasonable value in exchange, you’d have at least one year of 26 year old Gordon at a relatively affordable price, assuming he’ll play out that final year for a different team. The Birds right now have about $16 million in cap space, which is fine for this season, but if you’re looking at extending him beyond a rental, then it gets tricky. He’s apparently looking for a contract similar to what the top backs are receiving, with Todd Gurley leading the pack on his four year, $47 million deal, which pays him an annual salary just under $12 million. On the current Eagles roster, that AAV number would make Gordon the second highest paid player on the team, behind Alshon Jeffery and just ahead of Brandon Brooks. Next year it gets even tougher, with larger cap numbers for Carson Wentz and others kicking in.

The Eagles historically have not paid out big bucks to running backs. Right now they’ve got Jordan Howard on the final year of his rookie deal, earning a little more than $2 million. Miles Sanders comes in on the first year of his contract while Corey Clement and Darren Sproles earn a combined ~$2 million on their respective rookie and veteran minimum deals. Those four backs combined are earning only about $5 million total, which is what you’d be paying for one year of Melvin Gordon in 2019.

Still, it’s something to think about. Gordon is a stud, a guy who has put up right around 1,400 scrimmage yards per season for three years straight:

Very nice. That’s why I drafted him to my fantasy football team even though he’s holding out. I also understand that you don’t give a flying fuck about my fantasy football team.

Last word goes to Melvin Gordon himself, who tweeted this on Labor Day:

He’s correct.