LA Chargers: Best trade in team history with the Miami Dolphins

The LA Chargers have made seven trades with the Miami Dolphins since 2000.

In what has become an ongoing series here at Bolt Beat, we are breaking down the best trade that the LA Chargers have made with every other franchise in the NFL. Today, we break down the best trade with the Miami Dolphins.

The Chargers and Dolphins are frequent trade partners, especially considering how infrequent trades are in the NFL. The Chargers and Dolphins have worked out seven trades alone in the last 20 years, which is a staggering number compared to other teams.

The best trade in Chargers’ history with Miami is one of those seven and while it might not seem to be the most exciting trade in the world, it did land the Bolts a Pro Bowler.

The LA Chargers’ best ever trade with the Miami Dolphins:

As they did in the 2020 NFL Draft, the LA Chargers welcomed a new decade of football by trading up in the 2010 NFL Draft. However, instead of having two selections in the first round, the Chargers had just one and moved up 14 spots to draft Ryan Mathews.

Mathews is someone who was really really good when he was at his best but just could not stay healthy and stay on the field. He did put together two 1,000 rushing yard seasons and was particularly good in 2013, which is where he showed his true potential in the league.

Mathews played all 16 games for the only time in his career and had 1,255 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

RELATED: 2010 NFL Draft Retrospective

He may not have been the franchise running back that fans hoped for and he might be easily forgotten about as he was the man tasked with following up LaDainian Tomlinson, but he was a solid player that was worth a trade-up.

The Dolphins did not land anyone superb in return, making the deal more worth it for the Chargers. Jared Odrick was an average defensive lineman for several years and Koa Misi was an average linebacker as well.

The Chargers also essentially moved up in the fourth round as well and selected Darrell Stuckey, who was on the team for seven seasons. However, he was never more than a depth option that rarely played on defense and instead slotted into the special teams unit.

Again, it is not the most polarizing trade in the world, but the LA Chargers did get a Pro Bowl running back out of it, so it was worth it.