It's not often you see a playoff-caliber team with nine wins in each of the past two seasons continue to run into stadium issues. Especially when the team is located in one of the top-10 most populated cities in the United States. The situation becomes even stranger when the team is exploring trading a top-10 quarterback who has spent his entire career with that team. But the San Diego Chargers situation is not normal; in fact, it offers one of the most unique, fascinating stories heading into the draft.
Rumors are swirling about the Chargers potentially moving to Los Angeles, resulting in many different reactions. There are many excited football fans in Los Angeles and happy executives ready to cash in. But not everyone is a fan of the move, San Diego fans are upset and Rivers is not happy either. The father of seven has no interest in having to move his family to Los Angeles for one year or possibly more, given he could always be slapped with the franchise-tag as a free agent next year.
As Rivers told the San Diego Tribune, "What we've established here with my growing family is hard to recreate. It's hard to up and recreate that. I know that moves are part of life. But that certainly is fair to say that (not being sold on Los Angeles) is part of it." Rivers won't discuss a contract extension with the Chargers given the uncertainty and is now pushing San Diego's hand to trade.
The 33-year-old is committed to his stance, with many, including former teammate LaDainian Tomlinson, believing he will follow through on retiring if the Chargers move to Los Angeles. There is a bright side for the Chargers, this has all taken place before the draft, so they have a plethora of trade options.
San Diego is a playoff-contender with Rivers, but they don't have enough talent to compete with the top dogs in the AFC. If Rivers wants out, they have the opportunity to retool the roster and go after either Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston. While trading up to the No.1 pick is likely out of the question, the Tennessee Titans could be the perfect match. Titans' coach Ken Whisenhunt only spent a season with Rivers, but loves the player and he would be a massive upgrade over Zach Mettenberger.
If Tennessee is willing to ship the second overall pick to San Diego for Rivers, this is a deal the Chargers need to do immediately. As great of a quarterback as Rivers is, he is 33 and has reached his ceiling. Trading Rivers opens up room to give Eric Weddle the new contract he is holding out for, while opening up a youth movement and giving the team more reason to let Ladarius Green play more next season.
With Mariota at the helm, the future of San Diego's offense would really start coming together. Keenan Allen should move into the slot next season and thrive, the 2015 running back class is loaded and offers plenty of starting-caliber options on day two and the offensive line is slowly coming together. Pair that with head coach Mike McCoy who could do an excellent job formatting his offense around a quarterback like Mariota and this is the perfect scenario for the Chargers.
This has the makings of a perfect scenario for all sides—San Diego gets its quarterback of the future, Rivers doesn't have to go to Los Angeles and the Titans get a massive, immediate upgrade at quarterback.