Los Angeles Chargers: Will team make a draft-day trade? Telesco has history of it
By Travis Wakeman
The Los Angeles Chargers have seven picks in the upcoming NFL draft. Trading is always an option on draft day, and general manager Tom Telesco has a history of doing just that.
Ricky Henne of the team’s official site put together a list of every draft trade the team has made in its history. Since Telesco became general manager in 2013, he has made a trade every year except for last year.
In each of those cases, Telesco has traded an extra pick or picks in order to move up in the draft, an average of about five spots. In 2015, he traded away an extra fourth and fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers in order to move up just two spots in the first round. Though that pick netted star running back Melvin Gordon, the argument could be made that Gordon would have been available in the spot the Chargers were originally slotted to pick, No. 17 in the first round.
That begs the question, will Telesco be looking at making a trade again this year?
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If the player the team wants is not available to No. 7, could he maybe trade down for the first time and acquire more picks? For instance, if Jamal Adams is off the board before No. 7, that could be an option. Many feel that might be too early to take Malik Hooker and if he were to trade down and acquire an extra pick, he might be able to get Hooker later.
Telesco has been aggressive in getting the players he wants. In addition to Gordon, he moved up to select Jerry Attaouchu and Manti Te’o. There’s likely a player he wants in the first round, and he’ll have the opportunity to make a top-10 selection for the second year in a row.
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Last year, Telesco grabbed Joey Bosa at No. 3 overall, a player he likely would have taken even if he had the No. 1 overall choice. Thus, there was no reason to make a trade in the first round.
But is there a can’t-miss prospect like that on the board this year for the team? If I were Telesco, I would happily take Adams with the No. 7 overall pick but if another team, one like the Chicago Bears were to take him, then I would strongly consider trading back and getting at least one more pick.