The Eagles engaged in trade talks with the Chargers regarding disgruntled Pro Bowl running back Melvin Gordon, according to a tweet from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
Gordon has held out from Chargers camp all summer in a bid for a new contract and remains on the reserve-did not report list four days before opening day. He’s due $5.605 million this year on the final year of his rookie contract.
According to Breer, the Eagles offered the Chargers running back Jordan Howard — who they acquired from the Bears for a sixth-round pick in March — in exchange for Gordon and said the two teams would “swap mid-round picks,” with the Chargers also “eating” some of Gordon’s salary.
Even without knowing the specifics of the mid-round pick swap, the odds of the Chargers accepting that offer were minimal and Roseman knew it but presumably made the offer just in case the Chargers were so desperate to unload Gordon that they would take it. Howard, like Gordon, is not signed beyond this year.
Eagles executive Vice President and general manager Howie Roseman was asked on Saturday whether the team had any interest in Jadeveon Clowney, who had just been traded from the Texans to the Seahawks.
He declined to answer specifically but did have this comment, which seems to apply just as well to Gordon:
“I would say this: Anyone who is available at any level, whether they’re on the waiver wire or whether they’re available via trade, I promise we look into.”
NFL
Howard and Gordon actually have similar rushing numbers over the last three years — Howard has 3,370 yards with a 4.3 average and 24 TDs and Gordon has 2,897 yards and a 4.2 average with 28 TDs.
The 26-year-old Gordon is two years older than Howard, and he’s coming off perhaps his best NFL season while Howard is coming off his worst.
The Chargers have given Gordon’s agent permission to seek a trade with another team, but if that’s contingent on his new team giving Gordon the big-money long-term contract extension he’s seeking the odds of it happening at this point are minimal to non-existent.
Would Gordon play under his current contract for another team? It’s hard to imagine.
So it would appear the only way the Eagles or any other team could make a trade work without giving Gordon a long-term deal is to increase his 2019 compensation enough to get him to play, then still risk losing him as a free agent after the season.
Gordon, who played at Wisconsin with current Eagle running back Corey Clement, had a career-high 5.1 average with 10 touchdowns last year and made his second Pro Bowl in three years.
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