NFL notebook: Chargers' Gordon demands new deal or trade

[July 12, 2019]  Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon will not report to training camp without a new contract, ESPN reported Thursday.

Gordon also reportedly told the Chargers that failure to reach agreement on a contract would result in a trade demand. Gordon's agent, Fletcher Smith, told ESPN's Adam Schefter of the holdout and trade scenarios on Thursday.

The Chargers are scheduled to open training camp July 25.

Gordon signed a four-year, $10.67 million deal as a first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and in April, the Chargers exercised their fifth-year option for $5.61 million for 2019. The 26-year-old, who has 38 touchdowns over the past three seasons, did not attend voluntary workouts with the Chargers but did report to minicamp in June.

--Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Kendrick Norton was ticketed in the July 4 crash that led to the amputation of his left arm, ESPN reported.

ESPN, which obtained a copy of the report from the Florida Highway Patrol, said Norton was cited with an improper lane change. He suddenly pulled his F-250 truck in front of a Maserati and clipped it, sending his car into a concrete barrier.

The Maserati driver was not injured. The report said drugs or alcohol were not believed to be involved in the accident.

--New Orleans Saints rookie defensive end Carl Granderson was taken into custody during a court date and ordered to serve six months in jail by the presiding judge, who refused to accept a plea deal entered in his sexual assault case.

Granderson pleaded not guilty in April to one count of third-degree sexual assault and another count of sexual battery. He agreed to a plea deal that would have reduced the charges from a felony to a misdemeanor count of unlawful contact and canceled a jury trial that was scheduled to start Monday.

Chargers running back Melvin Gordon (28) leaps over Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith (22) in the second quarter during an AFC Wild Card playoff football game at M&T Bank Stadium. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

However, Judge Tori Kricken of the Albany County (Wyo.) District Court called off the deal and remanded him to jail immediately. The judge also assigned a one-year jail sentence on the sexual battery charge, which will be suspended upon completion of the six-month jail term. It will be converted to one year of supervised probation.

--Former New York Jets coach Walt Michaels has died. He was 89.

According to the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Michaels died Wednesday in his hometown of Swoyersville in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Michaels' daughter, Mary Ann, told the newspaper that Michaels died six years to the day after his wife, Betty, passed away on July 10, 2013.

Michaels had a 39-47-1 record in six seasons as coach of the Jets from 1977-82. His teams reached the playoffs twice -- including losing to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game in the strike-shortened 1982 season. He guided New York to a 10-5-1 record in 1981.

(Field Level Media)

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