2016 NFL Draft: How the Chargers could trade out of the No. 3 spot now
The Chargers could make a move and trade out of the No. 3 spot in the draft and here's how.
By
Will Brinson
•
3 min read
Pretty wild start to the 2016 NFL Draft, which is still a full week away. The Titans and Rams already consummated a deal to swap the No. 1 and No. 15 picks and on Wednesday the Eagles and Browns flipped spots with Philly going up to get the second overall pick.
Both Tennessee and Philadelphia are going to grab quarterbacks, with the Rams slated for Jared Goff and the Eagles chasing Carson Wentz.
The leveraging is hardly over though. Now on deck? The Chargers.
San Diego was in a good position to make moves if the Browns stayed put and Wentz was sitting there at three. The Bolts are still in good shape to move now, although they won’t get the sort of bounty they would’ve previously gotten.
According to Ian Rappoport of NFL Network the Chargers were “getting just as much action as the Browns” earlier on Wednesday. The Browns deal went down and it sinks the heat a little bit, of course, because there’s no second quarterback to steal.
There are reasons to believe teams would want to trade with the Chargers, however.
Jump for Jalen: The Cowboys are reportedly quite high on Jalen Ramsey of FSU. Can’t blame them given his versatile abilities in the Seminoles’ secondary -- he’s a fit for the modern-day NFL and generally just an incredible player in the defensive backfield. If the only way to grab Ramsey is by jumping the Cowboys, then the only way to grab him is by trading with the Chargers. Now, it’s totally possible San Diego wants Ramsey to itself. It’s also possible the Chargers could bluff the Cowboys. Call Dallas, say you’re taking Ramsey unless they throw in a fourth-round pick to swap and see what they do.
Another QB in the mix: It’s HIGHLY unlikely that Paxton Lynch gets involved in the talk for No. 3 overall. But Wentz is going No. 2 and he’s got less than 700 career college passing attempts! Lynch could fit a number of different teams in the top 10 (Dallas, the 49ers, the Browns), meaning teams interested in making a move up to grab a franchise quarterback. Lynch can probably be had for less than the third-overall pick but there’s a full week to go before the draft and the quarterback supply is shrinking quickly. There will always be quarterback demand. And there are people who have Lynch above Wentz on draft boards.
Throw a player in there: What if the Jets are interested in making a move? They’ve got a clear need for a quarterback and Lynch would be an interesting fit in Chan Gailey’s offense (or, more accurately: Gailey could do some fun stuff with Lynch in his offense). They’ve got Muhammad Wilkerson, who isn’t happy and isn’t getting an extension in New York. If they call San Diego and offer Wilkerson -- plus No. 20 overall and another pick for No. 3 overall -- the Chargers are listening. Going that high up to nab Lynch and sacrificing picks plus Wilkerson is a lot, but giving up assets to get a franchise quarterback is nothing new. Probably not happening but still a creative solution for a couple of issues and both teams come out happy.
Short hops: Again, there are multiple teams out there who want/need a quarterback and several of them aren’t far away from the Chargers. The 49ers at No. 7 and the Browns at No. 8 could end up competing with one another to try and nab someone like Lynch. Given Trent Baalke’s preference to hoard picks and the Browns already trading down it seems unlikely. But Cleveland’s got ammunition to move up now and still needs a quarterback. If there’s concern they could miss Lynch because someone else pounced it’s always a possibility.
At the very least the last week has taught us not to rule anything out when it comes to this draft.
