NFL Trade Rumors Were Right About Packers…And Chargers Could Be Next

NFL reporting said this trade would happen. And it also mentioned a Chargers player who could be on the move.

Quentin Johnston | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers are a team to watch on the NFL trade block right now. 

Joe Hortiz and the Chargers have tried to play it close to the vest when it comes to trading Quentin Johnston. But a new offensive coordinator with Mike McDaniel makes it tough to ignore before a frugal front office has to decide on a costly fifth-year option. 

Elsewhere in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers traded away wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles. 

And believe it or not, there’s quietly a pretty big link between that Packers-Eagles pre-draft trade and the Johnston and Chargers. 

Chargers Quentin Johnston trade could happen soon

Quentin Johnston | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

This isn’t about player comparisons and team needs, per se. It’s about simple NFL reporting. 

Back in early March, ESPN’S Jeremy Fowler dropped this little nugget about what he’s hearing when it comes to NFL trade rumors: 

“Also, Brown isn't the only receiver potentially available. Baltimore's Rashod Bateman, Los Angeles' Quentin Johnston and Green Bay's Dontayvion Wicks have come up in my talks. Teams have interest in Green Bay's Jayden Reed, but I don't sense the Packers would trade him at this point.”

Hey, there’s Dontayvion Wicks. It took a bit, but Fowler’s reporting around what he was hearing wound up true before teams even travel to the draft. 

And Quentin Johnston’s name is right there too. 

Johnston increasingly feels like a guy with one foot out the door. Ladd McConkey is going to feature as the No. 1 in McDaniel’s offense. They have a second-round investment in Tre Harris from last year and can’t exactly just shove that aside. 

Granted, Johnston was a first-round investment. But he’s had three seasons to prove himself and still comes up with the same old struggles in terms of route trees and drops. He hauled in all of 51 of 85 passes last year while earning a 67.6 Pro Football Focus grade, just inside the top 50 wideouts leaguewide. 

Now the Chargers are supposed to turn around and pick up his fifth-year option of roughly $18 million and just hope he fits in McDaniel’s scheme?

There’s a reason Johnston’s name has popped up from NFL insiders already. Whether it’s the Chargers putting feelers out around the NFL or other teams just making some of these same logical connections, his name has buzz around it. 

If one had to guess, a Johnston trade would happen during the NFL draft itself when the picks are flying. Hortiz loves his flexibility and moving up and down the board. 

They’re not going to get a great return for Johnston, but if it helps them move around the board for prospects they want and tack on a pick or two in a draft where they enter with just five picks, one has to imagine a deal goes down. 

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