newest Rivers rumors:

[Mister Hoarse]

I pity Bill Ray Smith hitching his wagon to Kaplan. He really gets annoying when he starts on with his snarky comments about how overrated Weddle is. It is almost as if Weddle offended him somehow in one of his sideline gigs, but he takes cheap shot after cheap shot at him. It's a pity John Lynch Sr botched up his firing.

Billy Ray does a fine Ed McMahon. Other than that he doesn't add a whole lot. Kaplan is an unlistenable douche.

[Panamamike]

Flame away. For 2 firsts I would take that. Love Rivers, love the steady, aging, immobile leader!

It's the toughest decision in today's modern football. See: Chargers - Drew Brees, Colts - Manning, Packers - Favre, etc etc. From a business perspective there comes a time where you have to weigh the option of getting value from a player who's remaining playing years can be counted on 1 hand.

What if Mariotta is the next Luck? What if he's not? I don' t know. I'm really conflicted with the possibility of 2 first rounders.

I understand the thought of trading him while you still have a commodity to trade. However, the original hypothesis of the trade had the Bolts sending Rivers, our First, plus "likely something more" for the second pick. That to me was outrageously ridiculous. The minimum return for trading Rivers to me would be two firsts. We can get that next year by placing a transition tag on him (one of them...maybe non-exclusive, I don't recall) I would still prefer to address this next season. They would need to be completely sold on who they were targeting, and I personally would not be with either QB.

[Faded blues]

I understand the thought of trading him while you still have a commodity to trade. However, the original hypothesis of the trade had the Bolts sending Rivers, our First, plus "likely something more" for the second pick. That to me was outrageously ridiculous. The minimum return for trading Rivers to me would be two firsts. We can get that next year by placing a transition tag on him (one of them...maybe non-exclusive, I don't recall) I would still prefer to address this next season. They would need to be completely sold on who they were targeting, and I personally would not be with either QB.

This plus 1000

Neither qb has shown NFL quality.

Winston throws way too many int and martiottas bowl game as well.

The Chargers have a target and we have no idea.

If I were to guess I'm leaning towards Gordon.

[homeless simpson]

What hasn't Rivers been straight about? He said he would honor his contract and see where things stood at the end of the season. Not sure what more you want out of him.

How about damage control? Say "I'd like to finish my career as Charger" or any kind of reassurance that he even has a remote want to stay a Charger....PLENTY of ways he can quiet down the rumors.

[Sec-E4]

What if Rivers was traded to Naw Lens for Drew Brees and a 1st rounder....Wouldn't that be sum shit ?!?!?

Naw Lens has already done some whacky shit, And were in all sorts of whacky rumors

I know Drew has fewer years left then Rivers, But I could see something like this happening.. Maybe MM see Brees working better under his system

I'm just playing devils advocate here

[Boltx]

This probably has more life to it than some of us would like to admit.

If there was an Andrew Luck type of talent this year...I'd be all over it. Hell I'd do it just for a single first rounder. But I have my doubts about Mariotta. Dude just doesn't look the part. Saw him during the Gruden QB camp on ESPN...and he carries himself like a 15 year old - gives lukewarm answers, doesn't look you in the eye, etc. Is this guy going to inspire and lead a team? And that's not even considering some of his potential physical limitations. Yeah he can run, but arm strength/accuracy may be an issue. And he looks like one big hit could rearrange his entire internal anatomy. If you think he can be like Russell Wilson, then that's a different discussion. But I think Wilson was waaaaaay better and more mature coming out of college. His height probably dropped him more than anything.

That being said....do we want to have a "malcontent" Rivers here under duress because we're holding him hostage next year with the franchise tag? Plus he's not getting any younger. Two first rounders is quite a bounty. And to walk away with something like Marrotta and Gordon/Gurley AND two first rounders again next year would at least make you consider it. This could be TT's defining moment, good or bad. It's hitting the reset button but if they pan out all of a sudden you open up a decade of being playoff competitive if not more.

Rivers' time here is winding down, regardless. Even if everything was ideal how much longer do you really envision him playing at this level? He's already hinted at retirement or at least being noncommittal about things. I just wish Marriotta was a better prospect, it would make it a no-brainer IMO.

[Steve]

Maybe what people need to do is start asking yourself the question "What makes a prospect a franchise QB?" What qualities would let a draft pick be that exceptional player. Then ask yourself about the QB and see if any of the guys in this draft have those qualities.

The problem I have with the Mel Kiper crowd is that they tend to label the best couple of QB every year as franchise QB. They also tend to focus just on what they do well. They never focus on what the players do poorly, or tie it to how hard is it for a QB to fix those problems. And never forget, Kiper and McShay work for ESPN, so they are playing to the crowd. They are trying to generate interest in the draft, so they will say anything to be controversial.

With Winston he has a lot of decision making problems and some mechanical flaws. The mechanical stuff is just a matter of taking the time to break him down and fix him. The decision making and poor reads are something he has admitted he has never really made an effort at, so those are a bit of an unknown. Mariotta makes much, much better decisions, but has a lot of mechanical things to fix/learn. He is not ready to play as a rookie, so how patient can we be? I like Hundley and Petty as much as I do Mariotta (I wouldn't draft Winston). But neither of them is really as ready as I would like to start.

[UtahBolt]

I think it makes some sense to draft a Hundley or a Petty a little later so that they can be groomed behind Rivers for this season (at least). But to trade your franchise player for a someone you hope will pan out to be a franchise player is just too big of a risk. Both Winston and Mariotta just have too many question marks to justify such a risky move. Hold on to Rivers and continue to try and extend him and if you have a sense that his replacement is available later in this draft, then grab him. The Chargers would have all the leverage at that point...the potential of a franchise tag looming and Rivers replacement in house already.

[richpjr]

How about damage control? Say "I'd like to finish my career as Charger" or any kind of reassurance that he even has a remote want to stay a Charger....PLENTY of ways he can quiet down the rumors.

The reason there are rumors in the first place is because he won't commit to anything past this season when his contract is up. Do you think he should lie to quiet rumors? Is he somehow not being straight by giving an honest answer?

[QSmokey]

This probably has more life to it than some of us would like to admit.

If there was an Andrew Luck type of talent this year...I'd be all over it. Hell I'd do it just for a single first rounder. But I have my doubts about Mariotta. Dude just doesn't look the part. Saw him during the Gruden QB camp on ESPN...and he carries himself like a 15 year old - gives lukewarm answers, doesn't look you in the eye, etc. Is this guy going to inspire and lead a team? And that's not even considering some of his potential physical limitations. Yeah he can run, but arm strength/accuracy may be an issue. And he looks like one big hit could rearrange his entire internal anatomy. If you think he can be like Russell Wilson, then that's a different discussion. But I think Wilson was waaaaaay better and more mature coming out of college. His height probably dropped him more than anything.

That being said....do we want to have a "malcontent" Rivers here under duress because we're holding him hostage next year with the franchise tag? Plus he's not getting any younger. Two first rounders is quite a bounty. And to walk away with something like Marrotta and Gordon/Gurley AND two first rounders again next year would at least make you consider it. This could be TT's defining moment, good or bad. It's hitting the reset button but if they pan out all of a sudden you open up a decade of being playoff competitive if not more.

Rivers' time here is winding down, regardless. Even if everything was ideal how much longer do you really envision him playing at this level? He's already hinted at retirement or at least being noncommittal about things. I just wish Marriotta was a better prospect, it would make it a no-brainer IMO.

The problem is, if Mariota was as highly regarded as Luck then we'd have to move up to the #1 overall pick to get him. And Tampa Bay would probably not even be answering TT's texts on that one.

As for the Rivers trade...wouldn't it be a REALLY defining moment if we traded Rivers (and, say, our 3rd) to Tennessee for the #2 selection, keeping our own #17. Then we draft...someone else (Leonard Williams? Does he even fit?) with the #2 pick; 'Gorgon' with #17 ; and one of 2nd-tier QBs with our #2.

And then you suffer for a year with Clemens starting, giving the reins to Hundley/Petty next year.

[Heatmiser]

If Bolts are going to move on from Rivers (which I really still don't see) the time to do it is when you move to a new city. Those fans are so happy just to have a team they won't care about who the QB is.

TG

[Mister Hoarse]

The problem is, if Mariota was as highly regarded as Luck then we'd have to move up to the #1 overall pick to get him. And Tampa Bay would probably not even be answering TT's texts on that one.

As for the Rivers trade...wouldn't it be a REALLY defining moment if we traded Rivers (and, say, our 3rd) to Tennessee for the #2 selection, keeping our own #17. Then we draft...someone else (Leonard Williams? Does he even fit?) with the #2 pick; 'Gorgon' with #17 ; and one of 2nd-tier QBs with our #2.

And then you suffer for a year with Clemens starting, giving the reins to Hundley/Petty next year.

Ahem... you just traded Rivers and our 3rd pick for Williams, who you questioned as a fit.