Los Angeles Chargers Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Russell Okung Could Miss All Of Training Camp

July 24th, 2019 at 4:47pm CST by Rory Parks

Reports last month indicated that Chargers left tackle Russell Okung was dealing with an undisclosed injury, but that may not be quite accurate. As Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com tweets, the team placed Okung on the NFI listed with an undisclosed illness, and GM Tom Telesco said that Okung started dealing with a “pretty serious medical issue” in early June (via Daniel Popper of The Athletic on Twitter).

Popper adds that Okung could miss all of training camp, though there is no word yet on whether his regular season (or his career) are in jeopardy at this point. Telesco said that the 31-year-old is doing better and getting great care, and Okung plans to provide additional details when training camp opens tomorrow.

If Okung is forced to miss time, it would be a huge blow to the Bolts, who are widely considered to be a legitimate championship contender. Okung earned a Pro Bowl nod during his first year with the Chargers in 2017, and Pro Football Focus graded him as the 11th-best tackle in the league in 2018.

The No. 6 overall pick in the 2010 draft has missed just one regular season game in each of the past two seasons, and he suited up for both of Los Angeles’ playoff contests last year.

Chargers’ Melvin Gordon To Skip Camp

July 24th, 2019 at 9:39am CST by Zachary Links

As expected, Melvin Gordon will not be on hand for training camp (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Gordon, of course, is holding out in an effort to land a lucrative new deal.

For each day that Gordon misses in training camp, the Chargers can fine him up to $40K. It’s a major risk and a major blow to his bank account, but in Gordon’s estimation, it’s worthwhile.

When looking at the history of running backs in the NFL – and their injury history in particular – Gordon’s push for financial security makes plenty of sense. Granted, running back holdouts don’t necessarily pay off. Le’Veon Bell famously skipped the 2018 season in an effort to preserve his body and reach free agency riches, but his four-year, $52MM deal with the Jets fell shy of his asking price.

This week, we heard that the Chargers have not budged in talks. Gordon, meanwhile, has expressed a desire to stay with the Chargers for the long haul.

Chargers Won’t Budge In Melvin Gordon Talks

July 22nd, 2019 at 3:48pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chargers’ aren’t budging in talks with Melvin Gordon. Barring a change in his camp’s expectations, an extension isn’t coming soon for the running back, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) hears.

Gordon has threatened to hold out, but the Bolts appear willing to call his bluff. The Bolts aren’t shaken, probably because Gordon would sacrifice roughly $330K per week by missing games, representing 1/17th of his $5.6MM salary. He also wouldn’t unshackle himself from the Chargers by skipping the whole year – the Chargers could still hit him with the franchise tag in 2020 if he sits out.

The timing of the new round of CBA negotiations also isn’t helping matters. It’s anyone’s guess as to how the future revenue split or salary cap machinations will impact future deals, so the general uncertainty may also be making the Chargers skittish.

For what it’s worth, Gordon says he ultimately wants to stay in L.A.

“I want to end up with the Chargers. That’s my home,” Gordon said recently. “I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘Man, I don’t want to go back to the Chargers, dah, dah, dah.’ Like that’s the team that blessed me with an opportunity. They started my life. They changed my life. Of all 32 teams, that was the team that called me. I can’t forget them for that.”

Gordon Says Teammates Have His Back

July 19th, 2019 at 9:23pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

One of the biggest stories in the league over the past week has been the situation involving Melvin Gordon and the Chargers. Somewhat out of nowhere, we heard that Gordon was threatening a holdout and a trade demand unless he received a new contract from Los Angeles. The 2015 first-round pick is set to play out the final year of his contract under the fifth-year option. Gordon struck a somewhat conciliatory tone recently, saying that he wants to end up back with the Chargers at the end of the day. Sometimes disputes like this can cause locker room issues and other chemistry problems, but Gordon isn’t worried about that here.

In a sit-down interview with Sam Alipour of ESPN, Gordon said of his Chargers teammates, “they’re all behind me. They all got my back.” Gordon continued, saying “they all told me, ‘You know what — we don’t really speak on contracts — but you just go and do what’s best for your family.’ And I’m glad I got that support from them.” Running backs across the league have bonded together as they’ve seen their value get questioned by many in recent years, and Gordon said that he’s heard from a ton of them. “A lot. A lot of starters. A lot, a lot of backs,” have reached out to him “just saying go out and get what you deserve,” he revealed. Gordon will be an interesting case-study, as the Chargers likely don’t want to pay him top of the market money. Backs like Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley, and David Johnson have commanded in the area of $15MM annually, and Los Angeles seems hesitant to pay that much. As we’ve broken down, Gordon doesn’t have all that much leverage because he can’t sit out the season like Bell did without his contract tolling.

Training camps are already opening across the league, but there are still some relatively big names left on the market. They’ll likely be snatched up in the coming weeks, and Gil Brandt of NFL.com took a stab at projecting where they’ll land. Notably Brandt picks receiver Kelvin Benjamin to go to the Giants, cornerback Morris Claiborne to go back to the Jets, defensive tackle Corey Liuget to go back to the Chargers, and running back Jay Ajayi to go to the Colts. Recently we did our own breakdown on the best landing spots for Ajayi. Brandt connects a lot of dots, including the fact that current Giants GM Dave Gettleman drafted Benjamin in the first-round during his time in Carolina. Brandt also thinks Eric Berry will eventually land in Cleveland after all, and that Tre Boston will end up in San Francisco since the 49ers could use some safety help.

Eagles T Tyreek Burwell Retires

July 15th, 2019 at 10:14pm CST by Rory Parks

Eagles offensive tackle Tyreek Burwell has announced his retirement, as the Cincinnati product announced himself on Instagram (h/t Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk). Burwell posted the following statement:

“Man it’s hard for me to sit here and put this into words but after careful consideration I’ve made the decision to retire from the NFL. This journey has been unbelievable! I’ve been blessed to have been able to play this game since I was 7 years old. Playing in the NFL has been a dream come true and this game has taught and given me so much.”

Burwell signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2015, and though he was a victim of final cutdowns in September of that year, he was signed to the club’s practice squad shortly thereafter. He ultimately suited up for nine games in his rookie campaign, and five more in 2016, seeing minimal snaps in both seasons.

He was waived by the Bolts in September 2017 and then joined the Colts’ practice squad. He played in one game for Indianapolis that year, the last time he would see regular season action.

The Colts cut him last September, and the Eagles signed him to a reserve/futures contract in January. He was obviously a long shot to make Philadelphia’s 53-man roster.

Melvin Gordon's Leverage Is Limited

July 14th, 2019 at 12:46pm CST by Rory Parks

In examining the contract impasse between the Chargers and running back Melvin Gordon, both Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com emphasize one factor that has been largely overlooked in other reports and opinions concerning Gordon’s threat to sit out the entire season: if Gordon makes good on his threat, his contract would toll and he would still be under club control in 2020 at the same salary he would earn in 2019. So Gordon really doesn’t have a ton of leverage here, which is why Fitzgerald believes the 2015 first-round pick will ultimately be on the field come Week 1 regardless of whether he has a new deal in place.

Fitzgerald notes that Gordon does not fit neatly into either the top tier of the league’s running backs, who have contracts paying at least $13MM per season, or into the second tier, which tops out at an AAV of $8.25MM. Fitzgerald believes that, if the Chargers want to keep Gordon for the long haul — which is still up in the air at this point — the two sides will come together on a pact that pays Gordon around $10MM per season.

Melvin Gordon Hopes To Stay With Chargers

July 13th, 2019 at 1:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

Extension-eligible for the past 18 months, Melvin Gordon changed his course of action this week in threatening a holdout and a pay-or-trade ultimatum. The fifth-year Chargers running back, however, wants this standoff to end with him signed long-term in Los Angeles.

“I want to end up with the Chargers. That’s my home,” Gordon said during an interview in Dallas at SportsCon 2019 (via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk). “I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘Man, I don’t want to go back to the Chargers, dah, dah, dah.’ Like that’s the team that blessed me with an opportunity. They started my life. They changed my life. Of all 32 teams, that was the team that called me. I can’t forget them for that.”

The 26-year-old back is set to earn $5.6MM on a fifth-year option this season. While that marks a raise from his $3.4MM 2018 earnings, Gordon has seen fellow 2015 first-rounder Todd Gurley change the market. And David Johnson and Le’Veon Bell followed suit in inking $13MM-AAV-plus deals. Gordon, who agreed with Bell’s 2018 holdout, reaffirmed his threat to miss regular-season games in pursuit of a new contract.

“It’s an opportunity right now where I know I need to take advantage of it. You know, I want to get paid,” Gordon said. “That’s just kind of what it is. … I’m prepared to do what I need to do. That’s just what it’s going to be.”

The two-time Pro Bowler has strung together three seasons with at least 12 touchdowns, and his 2018 campaign featured a career-best 5.1 yards per carry. But Gordon has also missed games due to injury in three of his first four seasons and finished his first three with sub-4.0 YPC averages.

The Chargers may force him to prove it this season, though with running backs possessing diminished shelf lives, that would obviously conflict with Gordon’s timetable. Gordon’s 1,079 touches since 2015 are the second-most in football — behind only Gurley’s 1,229. Gordon is also a year older than his Los Angeles ball-carrying counterpart.

“My guess is as good as yours right now,” Gordon said on where his extension talks stand. “We’re going to give them some time and see where it heads. We’ve still got some time out before training camp. But hopefully things get figured out.”

Latest On Melvin Gordon, Chargers

July 12th, 2019 at 9:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Melvin Gordon‘s attempt to secure a new contract brought the Chargers into the news this week. But the team is not yet willing to publicly engage with the disgruntled running back. “We don’t publicly discuss contract negotiations,” the team said in a message sent to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Gordon is set to make $5.6MM on the fifth-year option this season; that figure is nearly $4MM less than Ezekiel Elliott would make on his 2020 option. The 26-year-old back has issued a pay-me-or-trade-me ultimatum and threatened a regular-season holdout.

Latest On Chargers, Melvin Gordon

July 12th, 2019 at 9:05am CST by Zachary Links

Chargers running back Melvin Gordon has threatened to skip training camp and even potentially ask for a trade if he does not receive a long-term extension from the club. Furthermore, his agent says there is a possibility that he could extend a holdout into the regular season. Apparently, that’s more than just talk.

Last fall, when Sports Illustrated (Twitter link) spent a day with Gordon and his family, the running back was asked about his take on the Le’Veon Bell situation. Gordon’s father asked his son if he thought Bell would really sit out the entire year and the running back responded: “I would, too.”

“Come back and get hurt?,” Gordon asked, rhetorically. “Gave y’all everything he had for about five, six years. Y’all can’t pay the man?”

Gordon, meanwhile, has given the Chargers four years of service, including two Pro Bowl seasons. And, last year, he took a major step forward with an average of 5.1 yards per carry.

It’s debatable as to whether Bell’s stance paid off. Bell gave up $14.5MM on the Steelers’ 2018 franchise tag before signing a four-year, $52.5MM contract with $27MM fully guaranteed. It’s not quite the payday he had in mind, but a catastrophic injury would have prevented him from signing anything in that neighborhood.

If Gordon misses games, he’ll sacrifice roughly $330K per week, representing 1/17th of his $5.6MM salary.

Chargers’ Melvin Gordon Could Miss Games

July 11th, 2019 at 10:30am CST by Zachary Links

The saga between the Chargers and running back Melvin Gordon could drag on for a while. There’s a “strong possibility” Gordon could sit out into the regular season unless he gets a new market-value deal, agent Damarius Bilbo tells Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). For what it’s worth, Bilbo did soften the threat a bit.

“But we want to focus on getting something done before training camp,” Bilbo said. “There’s a long way to go to Week 1.”

If Gordon’s holdout extends to the regular season, he’ll lose out on roughly $330K per week, representing 1/17th of his $5.6MM salary. Staying away from the club could reinforce his importance to the Chargers’ offense, though there’s a risk of backup Austin Ekeler shining in his absence. Last year, Ekeler was a revelation for the Chargers as well as points-per-reception fantasy football players – he finished out with 5.2 yards per carry on a limited sample and 39 catches for 404 yards out of the backfield.

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