The LA Chargers needed to rebuild the wide receiver room this offseason after making several moves to become cap compliant. Mike Williams was released for cap space and Keenan Allen was traded to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick.
Many expected the Chargers to replenish the wide receiver room in the first round of the draft with Malik Nabers. That ultimately did not happen as the Chargers opted for Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt instead.
It did not take long after that for the Chargers to address the wide receiver room, though. Early in the second round, the Chargers traded up with the New England Patriots for the 34th pick to take Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey. McConkey was the top remaining wide receiver heading into the second round on our big board.
And in classic NFL fashion, moving up for McConkey ended up being a full-circle moment going back to the Allen trade. The Chargers used the pick they acquired in the Allen trade (110th overall) to move up four spots to take McConkey.
traded up to get our guy pic.twitter.com/B1KzoEYLWT
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) April 26, 2024
Keenan Allen trade helped Chargers draft Ladd McConkey
The Chargers had an extra pick in the fourth round to use after the Allen trade and the team used it wisely. While four spots may not seem like a big jump, the Chargers obviously had intel that another team was interested in McConkey, so they went and got their guy.
The Chargers' own pick in the fourth round is the 105th pick and LA may have hesitated more to make this move if that was the only fourth-round pick that the team had. As disappointing as the Allen trade was t the time, it ended up making a big difference for the Bolts in the long run.
The best part is that the Chargers still have a pick that they can use on day three of the draft. The Chargers didn't outright send the 110th pick without getting another late-round pick in return, as New England is sending the 137th pick. For the price of moving down 27 picks on day three (which is a crapshoot anyway) the Chargers were able to move up and get someone who can be a franchise receiver.
McConkey still has to go out and prove that he can stay healthy and be the guy in the NFL, but this was a genius example of asset management by the Chargers.