THE GORDON III FILE
First-team All-Big Ten, 2014
Unanimous All-American, 2014
Doak Walker Award, 2014
Two-time Pro Bowl, 2016, 2018.
Signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal which can reach $4 million with incentives.
By Lenn Robbins
Want to know a surefire way to really piss off a veteran player who’s still in his prime? Bring in a younger player and immediately start the narrative that a changing of the guard is underway.
So it goes in Denver, where running back Melvin Gordon III has heard about the wunderkind named Javonte Williams, who is listed as the starter on the team’s depth chart.
Gordon III, 29, is coming off a solid season in which he gained 918 yards on 203 carries (4.5 yards per rush) and scored eight touchdowns rushing. Those numbers are all slightly better than Williams (903 yards on 203 carries for a 4.4 average per carry and four touchdowns), who is entering his second season.
When the Gordon III signed an incentive-laden contract in April (base salary $2.5 million; $4 million with incentives), he had a message for Denver GM George Paton.
“I told George when I was at the table, ‘I’m not going to lay down, man,’" Gordon recounted. "I’ve always had that mindset that I have to go get it and that they’re bringing someone in here to take your job.”
Looking for a running back to handcuff in your fantasy league? Gordon III won’t lay down.