LA Chargers: Why trading up for Tua Tagovailoa is now more likely

The trade:

The LA Chargers only have to jump over one team in order to land Tau Tagovailoa and that is the Miami Dolphins, who are one pick ahead of the Chargers with the fifth overall pick. In looking at the teams ahead of the Dolphins, the most likely candidate is the Detroit Lions with the third-overall pick.

In order to determine what the Chargers should send the Lions, we have to look at past deals. When the Chicago Bears moved up one pick to get Mitchell Trubisky, they traded the third overall pick, 67th overall pick, 111th overall pick and a third-round pick in the following year’s draft.

Here is what moving up three spots to the third overall pick might look like.

The Chargers are going to have to send more as they are moving up more than just one pick and the 49ers knew in that Trubisky trade that they were already getting a fantastic trade for a quarterback that they were not even going to draft. The Lions will know how badly the Chargers want to get Tua.

However, it still is only three spots and the Lions will probably get whoever they planned on drafting anyway so they cannot completely fleece the Chargers. Another early second-round pick in this year’s draft plus a second-round and sixth-round pick next year should be more than enough to move up three spots.

And it is worth it for the Chargers. The team still has enough picks to fill the smaller holes that the team has on the roster and while it changes things next year in the draft, having a for-sure franchise quarterback in Tua is worth sacrificing two picks next year.