NOVEMBER 22: No team claimed Gordon, who has passed through to free agency, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This will be Gordon’s third time in free agency. In both other instances — 2020 and ’22 — the Broncos signed him. Gordon will be searching for a third NFL employer. Just more than $836K remained on Gordon’s Broncos contract, a one-year, $2.5MM accord.
NOVEMBER 21: In the wake of another underwhelming performance, Melvin Gordon‘s time with the Broncos is coming to an end. Denver is waiving the veteran running back, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). The team has confirmed the move. 
Gordon, 29, fumbled for the fifth time this season during yesterday’s overtime loss to the Raiders. The ongoing issues with ball security is believed to be at the heart of this move, as noted by Rapoport’s colleague James Palmer (on Twitter). A fresh start for both parties is now at hand, which could prove beneficial.
The former Charger enjoyed productive campaigns during his first two seasons in Denver, eclipsing 1,100 scrimmage yards and scoring 10 total touchdowns each year. Despite the presence of 2021 second-rounder Javonte Williams, he re-signed this past offseason on a modest one-year deal. Williams’ ACL tear opened the door to Gordon once again operating as a lead back, but he received double-digit carries just twice since he went down. Gordon scored one touchdown during that stretch, never averaging more than 3.9 yards per carry in a game.
That made him a trade candidate in the build-up to the deadline at the start of the month, but no deal materialized. The only move Denver made at the position was acquiring Chase Edmonds from the Dolphins as part of the Bradley Chubb deal. That, in turn, came after the Broncos added veteran journeyman Latavius Murray from the Saints’ practice squad.
The latter has logged at least 25 snaps in each of his games with the Broncos so far, a sign that Gordon’s hold on the No. 1 role was in danger. General manager George Paton indicated otherwise in the wake of the Edmonds trade, but another fumble yesterday proved to be the final straw. The backfield pecking order could now be slightly clearer in the wake of Gordon’s departure, though Mike Boone is a candidate to be activated from IR later on in the year.
Attention will now turn to whether or not Gordon is claimed by a team looking for experienced depth for a postseason run. Denver’s plans at the position – especially in the wake of the team having a new offensive play-caller – will also be worth watching as the 3-7 outfit looks to find success on that side of the ball.
Can they Waive Hackett also?
They will! He’s done. But the biggest problem the QB. Russ looks like a rookie out there.
They need to waive Paton and all the front office
They certainly whiffed on the Russ trade.
The problem is they signed Hackett with the expectation that Rodgers was coming with him. When Rodgers stayed in Green Bay, the Broncos went with Plan B in Wilson. Now they’re trying to force Hackett’s offense through Wilson and it’s having as much success as fitting a square peg in a round hole.
Should’ve said “hired Hackett”. “Signed” is poorly worded.
With so much money invested in their “franchise” QB the Broncos can’t get rid of RW… So, who’s next?
Mr Walton is checking refund terms and restocking fees. Poor guy. He got fleeced not getting to decide on Head Coach and Franchise QB.
Denver went all in on a QB that apparently was more system oriented than anyone thought possible. He’s getting paid a ton of money to suck!
are we sure the system just doesn’t suck?
they really should send Hackett packing soon to see what the issue is
The crew of the Titanic has identified and removed the deck chair causing all the problems.
Hackett is main villain, he has not changed his offense to meet Wilson’s skill set.
What kind of play calls work best on social media?
And too think the entire AFC West Mortgaged themselves to take down the Chiefs this year. Yet again the Chiefs are just leaving the entire division in their dust.
It really is too bad that the Chargers injuries pretty much ended their chances to compete with them already. Vegas and Denver are just unmitigated disasters.
The AFC West ain’t the only division with one have and three have-nots.
Yeah, but no other Division spent a Billion dollars in the off season trying to build teams to topple the Division leader, only to fail so miserably.
Getting rid of Gordon was long overdue. He had a large role in losses to Seattle, Indianapolis, Los Angeles Chargers, and now the Raiders. Dude LOST 12 fumbles over the course of 2.5 seasons. Every time he carried the ball the fan base held its collective breath. Good riddance. Not one team will claim him. 100% liability. I hope he invested his money well. He’s done.
Gordon then proceeded to fumble his walking papers as he was exiting the team’s facility
That’s hilarious!! He’s done!
Man-o-Man that was stinking painful to watch.
The owner should have waived EVERYBODY responsible for this mess – GM, Head Coach, Running Back, and whoever decided that 215lb Gordon should have been in the game in place of 230lb Latavius Murray.on 3rd and one.
Well, even though Murray has played by far the best in his limited snaps so far, Gordon was effective when not fumbling the ball. If he hasn’t had those disastrous turnovers, he’d still be the lead back. In any case, the main issue remains employed, as does the second biggest issue that Denver has on offense. I don’t think that I have to say who those two issues are.
Still laughing after all that $ they paid RW.
Broncos need to do what Philly did. Hurts is still a lousy quarterback but any NFL level player has at least some skill. Philly built an offense that’s very simple around the only two things he can do: run the rpo, and throw a crossing pattern to a wide open receiver only about 10 yards downfield mixed in with the jump 50/50 balls to a pro bowl level receiver. So, keep it simple stupid. Philly calls rpo and crossing patterns and not much else than 50/50 balls. And it’s painfully simple. But that can work when you beef up an Oline to hide the deficiencies and get him receivers who catch anything near them instead of undrafted retreads. You literally call the same 3 plays over again with slight twists to them. Philly literally did it backwards: they created an offense built around a qb’s weaknesses.
Denver needs to do the same thing: look at what gas RW has left and whatever it is he can still do well and keep it simple to that and literally call the same simple plays over and over with slight twists, and on paper he’ll look great however. That’s how you hide a struggling qb and we’re seeing in Philly it works. It’s weird, but it’s working so far.
You have very good points, and I agree with what you said. However, there is one caveat that needs to be noted with Denver, and that is that Wilson would have to accept whatever scheme is put in place. Seemingly, most of the issues arise because Wilson decides to scramble around and throw it deep on nearly every play instead of setting up the offense in an efficient and methodical way.
Hackett’s scheme is likely to blame as well as being too different from Wilson’s skillset, but Hackett as the head coach needs to have the ability and/or willingness to reign Wilson in and set the rules. If Wilson cannot play within the scheme, Hackett should have the wherewithal to bench him. Hackett has not done so, hence his responsibility in the matter. The coach needs to take control of his team, and that (along with Hackett’s puzzling strategic decisions) is why he is the first issue in Denver, and Wilson is second. Denver has plenty of talent on offense-more than a lot of teams-and yet they still are miserable to watch. This is a coaching issue first and foremost.
Also, it is inexcusable that K.J. Hamler has not been used in nearly any capacity this year. He was used last year and showed some promise, and has elite speed at the pro level. Any decent offensive coach would find a way to utilize him.