5 players the Denver Broncos could lose quickly in free agency

Denver Broncos FA leaving soon #4: Melvin Gordon, RB

This was a tough one, because over the last few weeks, Melvin Gordon has been putting it out there in a very strong and obvious way that he would like to be back with the Denver Broncos.

Even though he hasn’t been received overly well by the Denver Broncos fan base, Melvin Gordon was still pretty darn good in his two years with the Broncos, racking up over 1,100 yards from scrimmage and double-digit touchdowns in each of his two seasons.

Although Gordon is a capable three-down back, could the Broncos do better here? Could they go cheaper? Could they go younger?

The unfortunate answer for Gordon — to all of these questions — is yes.

Gordon is a solid veteran back at this point who is approaching the age of 30. That’s not to say he’s in bad shape or that he’s shown clear signs of aging, but Gordon was signed by the previous regime (John Elway) for a different offense (Pat Shurmur).

How much will that matter?

Will the Broncos try to allocate funds elsewhere?

Gordon should be worth another solid contract from some team probably in the $5-8 million per year range. There are other NFL teams that need a RB1 and Gordon understands he’s not going to be that in Denver.

I think the Broncos will ultimately look elsewhere for RB2, and I think we’ll see Gordon get signed to another team within the first week of free agency.