I’m going to kill Melvin Gordon Watch before it even starts. We had a long, extensive and fun time getting Antonio Brown Watch, but that’s not the same as Melvin Gordon watch.
For those of you who haven’t been following, the Los Angeles Chargers are dealing with a holdout of Gordon, their starting running back. This holdout is for a new contract, which the Chargers are unwilling to get together (which is very Charger of them). So Gordon is seeking and been granted permission by the team to seek a trade.
And then this happened:
Chargers RB Melvin Gordon, reportedly seeking trade, now follows Instagram accounts of the 49ers plus Raiders, Falcons, Eagles. And Chargers. And 650 others, including those of 49ers Tevin Coleman, Kyle Juszczyk, Arik Armstead, Jason Verrett, Richard Sherman and Dante Pettis.
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 2, 2019
Much like when George Kittle told Antonio Brown Mr. Big Chest, “Sup AB” this could be the spark that leads to a wildfire. We’re talking weeks upon weeks of coverage. Could he come to San Francisco? What’s the compensation going to be? Will there be a 10-question AMA that he only answers five or six questions of? Will he stop calling himself MG and instead go by “Mr. Power-thighs?”
No.
It’s not happening. At least, not for the San Francisco 49ers. This is one of those moves that wouldn’t make much sense. Is Melvin Gordon an upgrade over Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida?
Ok, now if he is, is he that much of an upgrade that is worth A: draft compensation (not cheap), B: bringing in for four-five weeks to learn the offense/playbook, C: releasing a running back to make room for him and D: worth for one year before the 49ers have to come up with some money to extend him.
The answer is no. No to all of that. Whether he’s an upgrade or not, he’s not worth getting rid of Coleman/Breida/Mostert—backs who know the playbook. The 49ers already had to do some creativity to their roster this year, including cutting Jeff Wilson Jr. and stashing him on the practice squad.
This reminds me of a guy I talked to in January at a Super Bowl party. He was a New York Giants fan and butting into a conversation I was having about getting Antonio Brown. He wanted Brown on the Giants saying it would just be way too cool to see Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. on the same team. I tried advising him that was a terrible idea and didn’t make much sense having both of them, but this guy steadfastly defended it, saying Brown could be a Giant.
It’s a very similar thing here. Having Gordon in that crowded backfield makes little sense. Releasing players to make room for him makes even less sense. Gordon has to learn the playbook first, which will take a week or two (see Jay Ajayi’s trade to Philadelphia or Carlos Hyde’s trade to Jacksonville) at the very least.
This isn’t like the AB deal, where the 49ers needed a wide receiver at the time, and we got giddy with excitement (until all that extra drama went down). Even with the loss of Jerick McKinnon, they have one of the better backfields in the league. Would Gordon help it? That’s up to you. Is the upgrade that great where it’s worth everything I mentioned above?
Negligible at best. The juice is not worth the squeeze.