Like any other year, the anticipation for the NFL draft is at an all-time high as we are just days out now.
This is the time where rumors and storylines are made up by imposter accounts of actual reporters to have people believe anything and everything they see.
In this case, it was the “Chargers’ official Twitter account” that had the general population buzzing.
A fake announcement from what looked to be Los Angeles’ Twitter account said the team was packaging a third-round pick (No. 77 overall) with the No. 13 selection to the Giants in order to move up to No. 11.
The official account Pro Football Focus account quote-tweeted it out, writing, “Posted and deleted by the Chargers,” with the side-eye emoji.
Posted and deleted by PFF 👀 pic.twitter.com/KT67zRJiZj
— PFF (@PFF) April 26, 2021
Then, Twitter user Max Merten claimed he was the one who created the tweet with a photo editor and responded to PFF.
Too bad this pic was made up by me and is completely unrelated to the Chargers. pic.twitter.com/iixwg1xic9
— Max Merten (@mertenmaxx) April 26, 2021
“I actually use them (the graphics) for a mock draft of mine, so it looks more realistic, but I thought I could also try and bamboozle some people,” Merten said.
In reality, draft trades do happen before the actual event, but only moving two spots had people scratching their heads all while believing it, considering we don’t know who will be on the board at the time.
Los Angeles could certainly make a trade on draft night, especially if they’re heavily targeting a player like Penei Sewell, Rashawn Slater or Jaycee Horn. Only time will tell.