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Melvin Gordon has informed the Los Angeles Chargers that, unless he receives a new contract, he will not report to training camp and he will demand a trade, his agent Fletcher Smith told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Smith told Schefter that he and Gordon did not want to go this route, but because of the lack of progress in negotiations and the offers the Chargers made this offseason, they felt it necessary to voice their displeasure in an effort to reach a more satisfying outcome, whether that is with a new contract or a trade.

Gordon is scheduled to be heading into the last year of his contract, a fifth-year option, worth $5.6 million dollars. He has been voted to two Pro Bowls and rushed for an average of 5.1 yards per carry and recorded 14 total touchdowns in 2018.

Why doesn't he already have an extension?

"He's a three-down back and puts a lot of balls in the end zone for us, a lot of touchdowns," GM Tom Telesco recently said. "He's a great player. We've got him and a number of other guys that we will look at extending at some point."

So now it's fair to wonder how much the Chargers might be willing to pay.

And when?

As Schefter notes, other top running backs -- Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Le'Veon Bell -- recently have received new deals, and Gordon wants to be the next running back added to that illustrious list. He is unwilling to take the Chargers' offer that does not put him near the salaries of those top running backs.

Unless the two sides can resolve their differences between now and when the Chargers' camp is slated to open on July 24 in Costa Mesa, California this will be a contentious issue that shadows this team throughout the summer, much as it once had to deal with an unsigned Joey Bosa throughout the summer of 2016.

Smith said Gordon is dug in and discouraged with where talks are.

At this point, I’ll remind you the Chargers played four games without Gordon last season and won them all, including huge victories at Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Those results were a testament to the players who filled in for Gordon -- most notably Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson and even undrafted rookie Detrez Newsome -- but also a bit of a statistical oddity. The Chargers averaged only 84 yards rushing in those four wins, a 33-yard-per-game drop from their season standard.

So, even though the offense is undoubtedly better with Gordon -- he finished inside the top 10 in the league last season in broken tackles and yards gained after contact -- the presence of those other backs is worth noting, especially when you're splitting hairs within this tier of high-end fantasy prospects.

Stay tuned.