The Chargers may be staring at an 0-8 start by the time the NFL trade deadline arrives this week, but the message out of Los Angeles is still the same: they are not planning to sell.
That stance has been repeated publicly by head coach Jim Harbaugh, and the latest reporting says the organization is backing it up in trade conversations, too. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, rival general managers have made calls on Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey and other players, only to get shut down.
“The Chargers also don't like the message of giving up on the season,” the report noted. “Calls from rival general managers on Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey and others have received hard nos.”
The reporting also says the Chargers have not been operating like a winless team in those talks. Khalil Mack’s standing as a “pillar of the organization” has led the team to reject trade inquiries about the veteran pass-rusher as well.
That kind of due diligence from other teams is no surprise. Around the league, clubs routinely ask about the biggest names, even if the answer is almost always no. But in this case, the names attached to the calls are the ones that matter most.
Herbert is not a realistic trade chip anyway. He has a no-trade clause, and moving him would leave the Chargers with a massive amount of dead money on his $262.5 million contract extension. McConkey is a different kind of piece, but the reporting points to him as one of the few legitimate long-term assets in the passing game, even with his injury issues.
There’s also the bigger picture to consider. What the Chargers do with Harbaugh and McDaniel next offseason remains uncertain, but Herbert and McConkey are expected to remain foundational pieces unless something dramatic changes.
For now, though, all the talk about sending a message at the deadline feels secondary to the reality of the season itself. The record is what it is, and no amount of trade-deadline posturing changes that.
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