newest Rivers rumors:

[Mister Hoarse]

I feel compelled to give props to Den60 who floated the idea on this board last year of trading Rivers. This situation reminds me of when San Francisco traded Joe Montana to the Chiefs. Of course they had Steve Young waiting in the wings. In Montana's case, it was almost like the last thing he did for the franchise was get a #1 pick for them (along with another player and a 3rd). BTW, Montana was 36 when this trade went down.

INVOKE THE BEAST!!11ONE!!

[Coachmarkos]

The one hard thing to take into account in all of our speculation is what Rivers has or has not told the Chargers about his plans. If he flat out told the team he would not move to LA under any circumstances, it would obviously explain the Marriota rumors along with this:

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 1h1 hour ago
After #Chargers work out Mariota in Ore., they’ll head to LA to work out #UCLA QB Brett Hundley tomorrow. Might not need to trade up for him

Interesting. They also looked at Bryce Petty. That's QB's 2,3, and 4.

Something may be afoot. Maybe they don't trade Rivers, and they look at Hundley/Petty in round 2/3?

Certainly looks like they are prepared for Rivers to depart, at some point. And sooner than later.

[richpjr]

The sad thing is if we don't trade Rivers and do draft a QB later to let him sit for a year behind Rivers, we are ignoring positions of need elsewhere to prepare for the future.

[Rugger05]

The sad thing is if we don't trade Rivers and do draft a QB later to let him sit for a year behind Rivers, we are ignoring positions of need elsewhere to prepare for the future.

If they take a QB early I think they are preparing for their relocation to LA LA Land

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Why was Clemens so important to sign last year as a backup if we are keeping Rivers and drafting a day 2 QB?

[Mister Hoarse]

If they take a QB early I think they are preparing for their relocation to LA LA Land

I agree.

[Maverick]

I hope we draft Melvin Gordon with #17 pick, extend Rivers for 3 more years, & wait until NEXT year to draft PR's ultimate successor---Connor Cook (MSU).

Oh, & as long as I'm dreaming----I hope the Chargers get a stadium deal done here in SD!

[Panamamike]

I think the whole "not sold on Mariotta" thing is why they brought pretty much the whole organization to evaluate him. Not just his play, but him as a person, etc...

As far as the Under Center stuff goes, Chargers did the least amount in the league last year, if I remember. McCoy likes having his team in the SG.

The point is, if Mariotta doesn't pass the mustard on any of the qualities they are looking for, they just do what you said. They don't HAVE to do anything.

I'm not sold on Mariotta either. But I'm thinking that the team is watching Seattle and Russel Wilson and envisioning something similar. Mariotta is smart, and can pull the ball down and slide like Wilson does.

I didn't think it had a chance in heck of happening, even 4 days ago. Now, I'm not so sure.

I understand the comparisons to Wilson. However, Wilson had a much better foundation and pro preparation at NC State and Wisconsin from which to transition to the NFL. I agree with Bruce Arians about his views on college spread QBs and their lack of pro readiness. Oregon is a running offense that sets up the pass, runs very simple pass plays, and flashes the plays in on cards with very little defense reading by the QB. I like Mariotta and loved him running that system in Oregon. but in my mind there are big questions to if he can translate to the NFL and how long a process it would take.....unless he ends up in Philly��

[QSmokey]

I agree.

What he said.

[TTK]

So let's address the elephant in the room, and something that's been occupying too much time in my noggin.

Obviously, just about everyone important from the Chargers flew up to Oregon last night to have dinner with Mariota and work him out today. I think it's significant that it's not just scouts and some coaches, it's the head coach, the QB coach, the offensive coordinator, and "members of the front office". So there's that. Then there's another huge issue I see with trading Rivers to Tennessee for the #2. WHAT IF TAMPA BAY SELECTS MARIOTA #1?!? We would be screwed. The way I see it, they would have to trade with Tampa Bay to ensure that they got Mariota, if that's what they're even wanting (but if they were just doing due diligence, why send everyone to Oregon?) - and, while everyone is talking about "Tennessee is close to Rivers' home state of Alabama", I'm over here thinking that Tampa Bay is pretty damned close to Alabama too.

I think these trade rumors are ridiculous but playing along with this scenario, how would they do a draft day trade with the Titans, when this trade would have to involve the titans giving Rivers a contract extension? If there's a chance that Tampa selects Mariota, they can't start negotiations with Tennessee prior to the draft if something then goes wrong (like Tampa taking Mariota). You'd end up in a situation like Josh McDaniels and Cutler when his plan fell through to try to get Cassel. They couldn't keep Cutler after that fiasco so McDaniels had to dump Cutler and wound up having to settle on Orton and drafting Tebow, since he could not get his first choice, Cassel. Not that dumping Cuter is a bad thing but having Orton and Tebow as the fallback is terrible and Cutler is obviously no Rivers. Just pointing out a possible similar scenario.

[Coachmarkos]

In other news I never thought I'd see, (unless the chargers won a super bowl). Philip Rivers is trending on twitter.

[Boltjolt]

In other news I never thought I'd see, (unless the chargers won a super bowl). Philip Rivers is trending on twitter.

What is his twitter username?