Around the AFC West: Drama everywhere as camps get underway
Aug 2, 2019, 7:01 AM
The Broncos played their first preseason game on Thursday night. They were victorious over the Falcons by a score of 14-10. Denver gets a head start in the preseason due to playing in the Hall of Fame Game, but the rest of the division is hard at work now.
The AFC West and the rest of the league all began training camp this past week, and now new storylines are being generated as players get injured, signed or shine in practice.
Let’s take a spin around the AFC West to see what the competition is up to.
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Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs got a big scare earlier in the week when star wide receiver Tyreek Hill had to be carted off the practice field. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter was quick to assuage the fear of Chiefs Kingdom.
Chiefs' WR Tyreek Hill bruised his quad and is expected to be fine.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 30, 2019
In fact, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid believes Hill might be back at practice on Friday. Even if he does return at the end of this week, Hill should be limited with this injury so there are no setbacks. Hill won’t get much work in the preseason as the team prepares him for the start of the regular season.
However, Hill may get a new contract in the near future. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was spotted at Chiefs camp where he is having talks about a new contract for his client. The framework is in place for Hill to be one of the highest paid receivers in the league, and he may get a deal that approaches the record-setting deal Michael Thomas got from the Saints ($100 million with $61 million guaranteed).
Hill’s off-field issues are going to keep him from getting that type of money without protection for the team, but the numbers should be close – and the team may be close to getting a deal done.
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Los Angeles Chargers
The holdout of Chargers running back Melvin Gordon is looking uglier by the minute. Gordon’s agent, Damarius Bilbo, has requested that the Chargers explore trading the veteran running back. General manager Tom Telesco told Bilbo that Gordon is still highly valued by the Chargers and the agent was not given permission to seek any trade partners.
Rumblings about this situation have surfaced which indicate the Chargers are willing to give Gordon a deal that pays him around $10 million annually. This would be a big pay raise for Gordon who is set to make $5.6 million in 2019, but it falls short of the deals that running backs like Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson.
Sources tell me the two sides may be around $2-3 million apart in terms of annual average salary. In the meantime, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson are getting first-team work with the offense in training camp as the team is preparing to move on without Gordon for now.
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Oakland Raiders
The Raiders have opened up training camp and everyone is waiting to see them on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” starting next week. They’ve already dealt with some drama with superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown, which may be featured on the show.
Brown began training camp on the Active/NFI list with an undisclosed injury. He was on that list for two days, then was activated and started practicing, but the Raiders are not talking about what the injury was.
They do have a potential playmaker in rookie wide receiver Hunter Renfrow from Clemson. Renfrow has been a stand out during the first few days of training camp due to his route-running and hands.
“We’re really excited,” said offensive coordinator Greg Olson.
I watched Renfrow shine during the week of practice for the Reese’s Senior Bowl earlier this year and he always has reminded me of former Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley. We’ll see if Renfrow can win the job as the Raiders No. 3 receiver behind Brown and Tyrell Williams.
