I'd show up the day before the season starts,
Yes, which is why I wrote:
Gordon will most likely end his holdout to coincide with the start of the regular season.
...in my initial post on the subject, which you apparently disagreed with, at least at the time.
Gordon's situation is different from Bell's in several ways. The Steelers either didn't want to franchise tag Bell or couldn't. In the case of Gordon, he is young enough and maybe valuable enough to the Chargers for them to tag him, though that could work out in Gordon's favor as well. But the point is, to tag, or not to tag, is totally up to the Chargers. It is yet another bargaining chip that is in the team's control. Gordon does not appear to have even as much leverage as Bell and his was negligible, especially if the Steelers had really wanted to keep him.
This is additional evidence that NFL players are pretty close to being chattel for the owners. The game is much too physically debilitating for the players to have as little power as they do. And Gordon and Bell play the most physically demanding position in football. I'v advocated for years that the players should do a work stoppage in the middle of the regular season, blow off the playoffs and, most importantly, the Super Bowl. They should stay out until they get what they need in a new CBA.
They'll never do it, of course, and will likely remain second class citizens in a business that destroys their bodies and minds. They're just not together enough.
Thus the reasons Gordon's holdout is not likely to last beyond the start of the regular season.
It isn’t “incentive”, he has to show up by the end of November in order to get credit for the year and be a free agent in 2020.
Coming in by November affords Gordon the benefit of credit for the season. THAT is "incentive" for him to NOT sit out the entire season.