Broncos getting trolled by Melvin Gordon signing with the Chiefs
It was barely one week ago that the Denver Broncos decided to cut ties with running back Melvin Gordon, who had a horrendous fumbling problem that cost the team in a big way on a variety of occasions. Gordon’s fumbling issues led to his being cut by the team last Monday, and one week later, he now has a new home…
The Broncos have two matchups coming up with the Kansas City Chiefs, and you can just feel the trolling from this move from miles away. The Chiefs know the Broncos stink right now, and they are adding Gordon to their practice squad to eventually utilize him against the Broncos and prove how much better their operation is than Denver’s. There’s certainly no love lost between these teams and as division rivals, the Chiefs have no problem with watching the Broncos suffer through yet again another (likely) losing season.
Many Broncos fans will scoff at this kind of reaction to Gordon getting signed by the Chiefs, saying, “They can have him! Let Melvin Gordon go ahead and fumble games away for the Chiefs!”
The reality is, this is a tremendous, low-risk move by Kansas City to bring in a back that can help them down the stretch. In a best-case scenario for the Chiefs, Gordon is an effective three-down back and helps them beat the Broncos once or twice this season. In a worst-case scenario, Gordon doesn’t play well enough to earn a full-time role, they cut ties after paying him basically nothing, and they are still better than the Denver Broncos.
The point of this post is to point out that the Kansas City Chiefs are just better all-around than the Broncos, and this is good business. The Chiefs have such an advantage over Denver right now that they’re taking the position of saying, we’re going to take Melvin Gordon, make him look good in our program, and continue to beat you in the process.
In addition to adding Gordon to the mix, the Chiefs also picked up wide receiver Bryan Edwards and added him to the practice squad. Edwards was a recent third-round pick of the Raiders coming out of South Carolina and has made some huge plays against the Broncos in his career.
The Broncos needed receiver help, but decided not to put in a claim on Edwards as he passed through waivers. They needed running back help, but decided to pass on players like Darrell Henderson passing through waivers. Why aren’t the Broncos utilizing their high waiver position right now? Why are they letting teams like the Chiefs continually upgrade every single spot on their roster?
The reality now is that Melvin Gordon is likely to win a Super Bowl this season, or at least get to the NFL’s final four, and it won’t be as a member of the Denver Broncos. He’s gone from being one of the most frustrating players on one of the league’s worst teams to now being a low-risk piece on one of the league’s best teams.
Does anyone want to bet that things are going to work out well for the Chiefs on this one? That’s just about how the cookie crumbles for them these days. Gordon got out of a frustrating situation in Denver and went to an even better situation in KC. Although hope is lost for the Broncos this season, the operation to replace so many injured players this year has been painful. Just like you can only bring so many players back off injured reserve, there are only so many “next man up” cards you can play before you actually have to get proactive and go get some players, scoop some off waivers, and take some risks.
These moves may prove to do nothing for the Chiefs in the long run, but for the time being, it’s a great troll job on the Broncos and Raiders.