It’s all but certain Melvin Gordon will be playing for a team other than the Chargers this season and beyond, but Los Angeles isn’t going to let him go for nothing.
The disgruntled running back reportedly has been given permission to visit with other teams as his holdout continues, and there’s at least one team reportedly interested in trying to finesse a deal. And that team, according to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, has been made aware what they’ll need to pony up in order to get Gordon.
Wrote Florio on Tuesday: “Per a league source, the Chargers have told at least one other team that the price for Gordon is a first-round pick and a fifth-round pick.”
That’s a little steep.
Teams in this situation seldom have any leverage, so one has to think this type of ask is in hopes that a team talks them down only a little bit, while still offering a return that’s worth the Chargers’ while. Gordon is unsigned though, so any team that acquires him also will have to convince him to agree to a new deal.
That said, Gordon is a special talent that has a knack for reaching the end zone, so it’s basically just a matter of teams being willing to part with some draft capital in order to get a deal done.
