Tag: Chargers trade

Report: Chargers have shown interest in trading for WR K.J. Osborn

The Chargers are looking to add another weapon for Justin Herbert.

According to Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi, the Chargers are one of the teams that has shown interest in trading for Patriots wide receiver K.J. Osborn.

Osborn hasn’t been that productive this season in New England, only with seven catches for 57 yards and a touchdown in six games. But he’s proven to be impactful in his professional career.

In four seasons with the Vikings, where he played before signing with the Patriots, Osborn caught 160 passes for a total of 1,865 yards and 16 touchdowns in those games

Currently sitting at 5-3 and well positioned to make the playoffs, Los Angeles finds itself as buyers ahead of the trade deadline. And it appears the team wants to bolster the wide receiver room.

Ladd McConkey has impressed in his rookie season. Quentin Johnston has shown signs of improvement in his sophomore campaign. D.J. Chark has yet to make his Charger debut due to a hip injury.

This is a position that could benefit from another playmaker for Justin Herbert, as the Bolts continue to find their stride in the passing game.

Shawne Merriman suggests Chargers should trade for Mike Williams

Shawne Merriman believes the Chargers should reunite with one of their former players.

The Chargers have reportedly shown interest in trading for Jets wide receiver Mike Williams, and Shawne Merriman, one of the team’s all-time best players, believes they should make the move to reunite with him.

“He’s that big-play guy you can count on,” Merriman said in an interview with Sports Casting’s Kyle Odegard. “And then you’ve got Ladd (McConkey) and (Joshua) Palmer that can make things happen underneath.”

Los Angeles cut ties with Williams this past offseason to clear up salary cap space. But bringing him back wouldn’t cost them much, as he is playing on a one-year contract with a $1.3 million base salary.

Early in the season, it looked like Williams would be a viable option for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In the first four games, he caught ten passes for 145 yards. Since then, Williams has only amassed two receptions for 21 yards.

Merriman said that Williams’ lack of production with New York can be attributed to him still working his way back from the knee injury he suffered last season in Week 3.

“I think also that Mike Williams coming off an ACL is just getting healthy,” Merriman said. “I try to tell people all the time, just because you’re on the field doesn’t mean you’re 100 percent. Your body has to adjust to playing again. You’ve been off for a year, so it takes a little bit of time. So I think it’s right for the Chargers to bring him back and get him on the field.”

A reunion between Williams and the Chargers would make sense. Los Angeles doesn’t have someone to threaten the deep parts of the field. Even with D.J. Chark Jr. coming back, Williams and Justin Herbert had a good connection in that area of the field during their time together.

Across seven seasons with L.A., Williams posted 309 receptions for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns. He averaged 15.5 yards per catch.

4 players Chargers should trade for ahead of NFL trade deadline

Here are four names that could fit the bill for the Chargers as the trade deadline nears.

The NFL trade deadline is close.

Sitting at 3-4 and still in a spot to make a playoff run, the Chargers could afford to add some reinforcements at positions of need.

With that said, each Chargers Wire writer laid out a player that Los Angeles should look to inquire about.

Chargers’ positions of need ahead of trade deadline

Here are the positions the Chargers could look to upgrade before the deadline.

October 31 is inching closer, which means the NFL trade deadline is near.

Following their bye, the Chargers will embark on a 13-game stretch, meaning they will need all the reinforcements they can get to bolster position groups that are a little thin or in case someone goes down.

With that said, let’s look at a few positions that Los Angeles could look to upgrade within the next couple of weeks.

Chargers trade kicker Dustin Hopkins to Browns

Cameron Dicker is officially the Chargers’ starting kicker.

The Chargers traded kicker Dustin Hopkins to the Browns in exchange for a 2025 seventh-round pick on Monday.

Hopkins was competing with Cameron Dicker for the Chargers’ kicking job, but now he is headed to Cleveland, where he’s set to take over for Cade York, who the Browns cut today.

A hamstring injury limited Hopkins to five games in 2022, which led to the emergence of Dicker, who closed out the season as the team’s kicker.

Signed in Week 7 of the 2021 season, Hopkins converted 27 of 30 field-goal attempts, including a game-winner against the Broncos last year in Week 6.

Dicker, who now takes the helm at kicker, made 19 of his 20 field-goal attempts while connecting on all 22 extra-point tries in 2022.

Daniel Jeremiah intrigued by idea of Chargers trading back in 2023 NFL draft

There is a strong possibility of the Chargers trading down in this year’s draft.

The Chargers are slated to pick No. 21 overall, at least for now.

There is a growing sense that Tom Telesco could trade down for the first time in his tenure as the franchise’s general manager dating back to 2013.

NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah had his annual pre-draft conference call on Thursday, and he touched up on the possibility of Los Angeles moving back and why it would make sense.

“I think that’s a real possibility and I think as you’re ready to pay Justin [Herbert], having more cheap starters is going to be the way to go,” Jeremiah said.

“I think trading down makes a ton of sense,” Jeremiah added. “If they were to trade down, now you start looking at edge rushers and receivers, I think there’s value down there at the bottom of the first round.”

Los Angeles has plenty of talent across each position group, but the issue is that they lack depth at them.

Trading back would allow them to potentially add another pick in the top 100 and still draft an instant contributor, no matter how far they move back and move them further toward accomplishing the task of bolstering the depth chart.

The 21st selection is pretty valuable and a team like the Cowboys (26th), Bills (27th), Bengals (28th), Saints (29th) or Eagles (30th) could see a player high on their board start to slide, leading to them calling up L.A. to swap picks.

Only a week until we find out if it comes to fruition.

As trade deadline nears, will Chargers make a move?

Teams have until Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 1:00 pm PT to make a trade.

The Chargers bye week is coming to a close, as is the NFL trade deadline.

Teams have until Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 1:00 pm PT to make a trade for the remainder of the regular season. And the question looms if Los Angeles will be a buyer.

L.A. has dealt with a flurry of injuries at various positions, but the units that could use some retooling the most are wide receiver and cornerback.

Keenan Allen should be back to full health from a hamstring injury, as should Joshua Palmer, who missed Week 7 with a concussion. But Mike Williams will be out for multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain.

The Bolts’ offensive production has been incoherent for various reasons. However, the team has been unable to produce explosive plays because of the lack of speed in the room.

Some big-name receivers that could be made available for trade include Texans’ Brandin Cooks, Jets’ Elijah Moore, Broncos’ Jerry Jeudy, and Steelers’ Chase Claypool.

Even though the Chargers have the cap space, they don’t have much. And that could be one of the variables that sways them away from pursuing one of the players mentioned, but there are still other viable options.

As for the cornerback position, Los Angeles will be without its big-ticket free-agent acquisition in J.C. Jackson, who had season-ending ankle surgery.

Michael Davis will start in place of him, with Asante Samuel Jr. playing the other boundary spot. The depth behind them is thin, as rookie Deane Leonard is the only other outside corner.

Some players who might be on the trading block are Seahawks’ Sidney Jones. Chiefs’ Rashad Fenton, Vikings’ Kris Boyd, and Commanders’ William Jackson, among others.

In 10 years as general manager, Tom Telesco hasn’t pulled off a trade at the deadline to acquire a new asset, except for trading away cornerback Desmond King to get a draft pick in return in 2020.

But given the aggressiveness in free agency last offseason and this offseason, Telesco pulling the trigger on a player to improve the roster should not be written off.

“We are always going to look for avenues to enhance our team and make it better,” Staley said about exploring a trade ahead of the deadline. “If those avenues are possible, then we’ll definitely explore them.”

6 players the Chargers should consider trading for

Identifying a few players who would make sense for the Los Angeles Chargers via trade.

The Chargers have been hit with injuries to key players, but it’s safe to say their roster is still solid. Nonetheless, a couple of position groups could be revamped as we near the halfway point of the season.

With that in mind, let’s identify a few players who would make sense for Los Angeles via trade, with the deadline quickly approaching on November 1.

 

 

Recently released WR DeSean Jackson could add explosive element to Chargers’ offense

The Chargers would benefit from adding a player like WR DeSean Jackson.

The Chargers’ offense has come to a screeching halt the past two games. In particular, it has been the passing game that has been problematic.

Early-down play-calling and the right side of the offensive line are to blame. However, we have not seen Justin Herbert do much of this season that is proven to have success: taking shots down the field.

Herbert’s air yards per attempt is 7.6, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. Furthermore, he is only averaging 7.9 yards per play-action attempt, according to Pro Football Reference.

While Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are one of the league’s better duos, Los Angeles would largely benefit from a proven speedster to unlock Herbert’s cannon of an arm more often to establish efficiency again.

One solution could be veteran DeSean Jackson, who the Rams recently waived.

Jackson, 34, was not let go of because of an injury or lack of production, but the team did not have many opportunities for him to contribute.

He left the Rams with eight receptions for 221 yards and one touchdown and showed that he has plenty of juice to be a downfield threat.

Furthermore, despite the injury concerns, Jackson is the healthiest in the past three seasons.

Since it’s now after the NFL trade deadline, Jackson is subject to waivers. If the Chargers were to claim him, they would take on his current $4.5 million contract. If Jackson clears waivers, he becomes a free agent.

Currently, Los Angeles is 20th on the waiver wire.

The bottom line is while he would not fix the pass protection problems or the drops that have been detrimental, Jackson is capable of bringing a downfield specialist that would allow Herbert to do what he does best.

Chargers come away empty-handed at NFL trade deadline

General manager Tom Telesco stuck to his guns.

As the clock struck 1 pm PT, the NFL trade deadline officially passed.

Despite needing defensive and offensive line help and a speedy wide receiver, the Chargers decided to roll with what they have.

Seeing Los Angeles not making should not surprise, however.

General manager Tom Telesco has not been notorious for making in-season trades since taking over as general manager in 2013.

Telesco has only made two.

The first came when he traded WR Dontrelle Inman to the Bears for a seventh-round pick, and the other came last season when CB Desmond King was shipped to the Titans for a sixth-round pick.

Telesco’s non-aggressive approach to trades, especially during the season, comes down to him valuing his cap space and draft picks and building the team within the players he brings in.

That is one of the things that attracted Brandon Staley when deciding to take the head coach position.

Despite coming away empty-handed, it’s still possible that the Chargers could dip into the free agency pool to address some of their needs.