Chargers predicted to trade back with Lions, draft explosive 987-yard wide receiver

The Los Angeles Chargers need more help at wide receiver and could address that in the 2025 NFL draft. But what if the Chargers are able to have their cake and eat it, too?

That's a scenario that recently played out in a mock draft from Pro Football Focus' Andrew Ites, who predicted that Los Angeles will trade back with the Detroit Lions in Round 1 to acquire an extra pick before selecting wideout Matthew Golden out of Texas.

The proposed trade sees the Chargers land pick Nos. 28 and 130 (Round 4) in exchange for pick No. 22. Per the trade value chart, the No. 22 pick is worth 780 points, while the two picks the Lions are sending are worth a total of 702, so it doesn't exactly check out. The Lions might have to send more to the Chargers to pull something like this off.

"Considering Josh Palmer‘s departure and Quentin Johnston‘s unreliability, the Chargers are extremely thin at wide receiver behind Ladd McConkey," Ites wrote. "Golden's 4.29 speed led to 13 deep catches last season, which ranked 15th in college football. He'll help stretch the field while McConkey continues to dominate in the intermediate areas."

Ites perfectly lays out why the Chargers need a receiver so badly. While McConkey looks like a star in the making, Quentin Johnson is incredibly inconsistent. The team also lost Joshua Palmer and replaced him with Mike Williams, who looked to be over the hill in 2024.

Once thought of as a Day 2 pick, Golden has seen his stock rise in the pre-draft process and now many experts are projecting him as a first-rounder. Golden saved his best college season for last, with the Texas product posting a career-best 987 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 2024.

Golden can do just about everything on the football field. He can line up out wide or in the slot, and he's as much of a threat down the field with his game-breaking speed as he is in the short-to-intermediate areas. Golden would no doubt add an intriguing option for quarterback Justin Herbert.

While we still want to see the Chargers add another experienced option in the wide receivers room, Golden is absolutely someone general manager Joe Hortiz should be eyeing in the first round.

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