The dismissal of Melvin Gordon’s DUI charges isn’t worthy of celebration

On Wednesday, it was announced that the DUI charges faced by Melvin Gordon had been dismissed. Due to problems with the traffic stop involving the Broncos running back, which would’ve suppressed the blood results from that night, the case was pled down to a reckless driving for excessive speeding.

As a result, Gordon most likely won’t face a suspension to start the 2021 season. While the NFL could still impose their own penalty on Denver’s leading rusher a year ago, his camp doesn’t expect that to happen.

“We feel the dismissed DUI charges speak for themselves,” said Eric Nesbitt, Gordon’s attorney via Mike Klis of 9News. “We don’t think the league should impose any sanctions or discipline based on a reckless driving charge.”

Apparently, this isn’t just wishful thinking.

“As you know, the commissioner has a great deal of discretion under the (CBA), but we feel confident with today’s results there should not be any discipline imposed,” Nesbitt added. “We’ve confirmed with the NFLPA on that and feel pretty good about it.”

This was hailed as a “good day” in Broncos Country. That’s a tone deaf response on many fronts.

For one, it seems inappropriate to celebrate someone dodging a DUI charge. Clearly, that’s what happened here.

To be fair, the system is in place for a reason. Nesbitt and his team did a good job of using it to their advantage. That’s fine.

But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Gordon was driving 71 miles per hour in a 35 zone, while weaving in and out of traffic. And it doesn’t erase what the blood results would show; after all, they wanted that evidence suppressed for a reason.

That’s not a result worth celebrating. Surely, Broncos Country hasn’t fallen to the point where that kind of news is worthy of smiles and high-fives.

In addition, there’s the possibility that Wednesday’s news wasn’t good for the Broncos on the field. Had the charges stuck, the league would have most likely suspended Gordon. If that happened, Denver would’ve had the opportunity to void the remaining year on the running back’s contract.

A year ago, Gordon signed a two-year, $16-million deal with the Broncos. He’s scheduled to earn nearly $7 million this season, while counting roughly $9 million against the team’s salary cap.

Had Denver voided the contract, only the $2 million pro-rated signing bonus would’ve counted against the 2021 cap. Instead, moving on from him now would result in $6.5 million in dead money.

In other words, the opportunity to get out of a big contract no longer exists. The Broncos are likely saddled with a hefty number associated with a running back who ran for 986 yards last season.

While not a bad season, his average salary will make him the eighth-highest paid running back in the NFL in 2021. Other players on that list include Christian McCaffrey, Ezekial Elliott, Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook and Derrick Henry.

The Broncos will need Gordon to approach that level of play this season. That will mean using him as the team’s featured back.

That being the case, plans could change for Phillip Lindsay. Last week, George Paton said that Denver plans to tender the restricted free agent. But which one they use may change.

If the Broncos put a first-round tender on Lindsay, they’d get a first-round pick in compensation if he left. That’s great. But they’d have to pay him $4.641 million if he stayed. It’s hard to imagine the team having more than $13 million in cap space tied up in two running backs in ’21.

The same could apply for a second-round tender. That carries a salary of $3.259 million. Again, this might be too hefty.

That means an original-round tender might make more sense, as it has a salary of $2.133 million attached to it. But given that Lindsay was an undrafted free agent coming out of college, no compensation will be owed to the Broncos if he leaves, making it much more likely that a big offer will come the running back’s way.

For Melvin Gordon, Wednesday was a good day. He avoided serious legal trouble, pleading down to an eight-point ticket, $479 in fines and 12 hours of community service.

But it wasn’t a great day for the Broncos. Perhaps in more ways that one.

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