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Matt Maiocco discusses 49ers’ chances of trading for Melvin Gordon

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© Robert Hanashiro | 2018 Sep 30


As the Ezekiel Elliot holdout reached it’s conclusion on Wednesday morning with the running back signing a 6-year $90 million contract to remain with the Dallas Cowboys, the national spotlight has shifted towards another top-tier running back currently holding out in hopes of a new contract.

Melvin Gordon, the two-time Pro Bowl running back for the Los Angeles Chargers, no longer has the opportunity to re-sign with the Chargers after general manager Tom Telesco announced that the team will not negotiate a contract extension until after the season.

Not only will Gordon not receive a new contract with the Chargers this season, but according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Chargers “have given the reps for Melvin Gordon permission to seek a trade, sources say.”

The trade talk only got hotter from there, as the star running back took to social media and followed the Instagram accounts of several NFL teams and players from other teams. He followed teams like the Oakland Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers.

He also followed several prominent 49ers players on Instagram, including George Kittle, Dante Pettis, Richard Sherman, Tevin Coleman, Kyle Juszczyk, Arik Armstead and Jason Verrett.

Matt Maiocco, the longtime 49ers beat writer for NBC Sports Bay Area, stopped by the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of the 49ers acquiring Gordon from Los Angeles.

“I mean I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to, at least, kinda see what the Chargers are thinking and then also the other side of that is to see what Melvin Gordon is thinking,” Maiocco said. “Obviously it’s gonna take a lot of money for him to agree to a deal to come to a team. He wants a new contract so that’s gonna take a lot, and with the guys you just mentioned and they do have Jeff Wilson stashed away on the practice squad. None of those three guys are Melvin Gordon, but what’s it gonna take? You know? Are they gonna have to give up a first-round pick, a second-round pick, a couple seconds…and then you pile onto that the amount of money that it would take for them to sign him long-term. I don’t know that it’d make sense.”

Gordon has spent all four of his NFL seasons with the Chargers and has amassed 3,628 rushing yards and 1,577 receiving yards while scoring 28 rushing touchdowns and 10 receiving touchdowns.

“What I’ve always looked at too is just the history of the Shanahans, you know Mike long-before Kyle, and those guys can find running backs,” Maiocco said. “They can find productive running backs and so I don’t think the 49ers running game is gonna be any kind of issue this season. I think their issue is in other spots, but I mean I guess if it’s such a good deal that it makes sense I could see them doing it, but I just don’t know that that’s realistic.”

Albert Breer of the MMQB reported that only one team has made an offer for Gordon so far. Philadelphia reportedly offered Jordan Howard and a swap of mid-round picks with Los Angeles eating some salary, which the Chargers declined

Maiocco explained why the high price tag could deter the 49ers from attempting to acquire the star running back.

“Yeah and I also think, when you look at the long-term, how the 49ers project out over the next year or two, they’re gonna have to add some offensive linemen,” Maiocco continued. “I realize they took an offensive lineman in last year’s draft but they need more of those guys and in today’s NFL it’s very rare that offensive linemen, not-named Laremy Tunsil, it’s rare those guys become available and then if you do take one in the draft you’re gonna have to invest a pretty-high draft pick. Those draft picks become very valuable when planning out the long-term future of your team.”

Listen to the full interview with Matt Maiocco below. To hear him discuss a potential Melvin Gordon to 49ers trade start from 10:18.