Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

Makes a lot of sense, Niners swap #1 to SD for Philip Rivers. He grades out higher than Rodgers or Smith, you have him under contract, no negotiating needed, and he has a year under his belt training in an NFL sytem. The Chargers would be a 12-4 team with 3 first round picks! Hello Braylon Edwards plus two more impact additions. Heck, with 3 they might even come into Howard interest. DE and WR are their draft needs.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

I think that has a lot to do with Matt Leinart saying he will not go into a supplemental draft recently, if it is true and happens. Wow San Diego. Wow.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

That would be great for both teams. Niners can get a really talented young QB who graded out much higher than either of the top two this year (IMO) and San Diego gets ANOTHER first round pick while getting rid of a huge contract that would be riding the bench anyway. What a great idea. This might just be a rumor but if the GMs for the Chargers and the 49ers hear about it, this might come to fruition.

If this were to happen, my God the Chargers would be loaded in the draft. They would have the 1st, 12th, and 28th picks in the first round. Not that they really need all of those picks seeing as how they were a 12-4 team last year.

My hope is that San Diego will try to do this deal. That way they could package those 3 picks along with Gates and trade us for Howard.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

they probably wouldn\'t wanna let go of that #1 if they were thinking ruud.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

I\'ll quote John Clayton (not regarding this rumour, but you\'ll see why in a second):
Rivers signing bonus was 14.5 million dollars (for a 6-year contract). So the Chargers take an immediate cap hit of 10 million AND have to sign 3 first round picks.

Anyway, is it a good business decision to pay someone 14.5 million (plus his first year salary) for throwing 8 passes? Rivers is their QB for the future and I can\'t see this deal happening.

*** Reading my own post, I\'m not so sure Rivers would really get to keep the money. The cap hit is a reality, but he may have to pay back some of the signing bonus money. Can anyone clear that up? ***

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

The biggest flaw in this one, as we see it, is that the \"option\" portion of Rivers\' 2004 signing bonus was due on March 10, which means that the cap hit resulting from a trade would be much larger than it would have been if the trade had occurred before March 10.

If the 49ers\' are indeed interested in making such a move, it\'s hardly a glowing endorsement for Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, the top two quarterback prospects this year -- and it could mean that, if the 49ers use the pick, they\'ll go in a different direction. Likewise, the whole thing might be intended to entice a team in the top ten who wants Rodgers or Smith to trade up with the 49ers -- without the Niners having to initiate the discussions with any of those teams.

The Chargers, on the other hand, might be willing to take the cap hit if they can make the team a lot better.

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So true LKelley, so true. Are you related to baronm? :D

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Two things:

1. How is it that Rivers is now such a better prospect than either Rodgers or Smith? Did anybody write a report last year about Phillip Rivers having a pro day that was the best in the past fifteen years? No. Rivers had a great Senior Bowl and Marty was his coach.

2. If San Diego were to get the number 1 this year, then your claim of them getting rid of the BIG contract of Rivers will be null and void, because this year\'s number 1 will command a bigger contract than last year\'s.

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1. it has been widely circulated that the rah rah for both rodgers and smith at prodays from scouts and executives league wide could very well be much to get their ratings up so that they would be chosen at the upper end so the more desired talents of edwards, rolle, etc would roll down. there is a lot of smokescreen and positioning going on now. you can find either rodgers or smith projecting out of the top ten from different sources right now. last year manning was a solid top pick, rivers was a sure top5 as well.

2. i am making no claim. i am just passing along interesting information. i don\'t see the money thing about sd that you mention tho. them taking a financial hit is the biggest impediment as pointed out.

i do think it is much like howard with us though. they have a lot of obligation to a position they are overloaded at. the money could be spent better. whether using 3 firsts or parlaying them into an impact player(s) it seems prudent.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

Widely circulated? I haven\'t seen it on ESPN, Sporting News, CNNSI, CBS Sportsline, or anywhere else; except here where a few people have discussed it.

I don\'t think River\'s was a sure top 5 talent last year, either. In fact, before the Senior Bowl he was projected as a late first or even 2nd round pick. Roethlisburger was thought by most scouts to be the best talent a month or so before the draft, but everyone knew that because of politics and bloodlines Eli would be number 1. Marty fell in love with Rivers but couldn\'t pick him number one because he wasn\'t \"sexy.\"

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It isn\'t mainstream media but it isn\'t just here. Google Alex Smith overrated or overhyped and you will find just about every NFL team forum. The mainsteream press looks to make news. They reported heavily that Smith got a \"standing ovation\". Fact is, it was the end of the session and most people were on their feet heading for the exits when they started clapping.
The point is that everyone has a reason to embellish, exaggerate, and/or flat-out misrepresent (for better or worse) a guy\'s performance at his Pro Day workout. Every team would love to manipulate the franchises selecting in front of them into taking someone other than the player that every team individually wants. Part of the problem is that many of the falsehoods are told within the organizations themselves, with G.M.\'s and coaches not being straight with the scouts, either because they fear that the scouts will run their mouths -- or because they hope that they will.
In this case, someone either wants Smith to be picked instead of the guy they really want -- or someone wants Smith to fall into their laps.

Lordy, lordy I hope it was disinformation form the Saints that they have Marcus Johnson as #16 overall.

Rivers was not a guaranteed top 5 but no surprise either. he would have been gone by pittsburghs pick.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/foo...ers/45539.html

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...wwhi042004.htm

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LKelley, you are correct sir. :thumbsup:

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One problem with this for the Chargers is what if Drew\'s great last season was a fluke, and he goes back to doing bad, then the Chargers will be a the creek with paddle without Rivers.

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If Rivers goes the Chargers are resting the whole season on Drew\'s shoulders. If he goes down they don\'t have any good back ups. You can have all the talent in the world at WR, but without a good QB it doesn\'t mean anything.

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I betcha Donte Stallworth, Boo Williams, and Jerome Pathon would testify to that. ;)

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They should hold onto Rivers for one more year and see if Drew is the real deal and then look to dump Rivers after that.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

Taken from sportingnews.com:

San Francisco coach Mike Nolan sounded like there was nothing happening between his club and the Chargers. An internet report said the 49ers would give San Diego the first overall draft choice for QB Phillip Rivers. \"I didn\'t really study Rivers all that much last year and don\'t know how good he is,\" Nolan said, downplaying the speculation.

Looks like it might not be a rumor after all... no_cloning you make a very good point, but San Diego has the neccesary cap room to make it all work. I think it would be a good deal for both. San Diego could also trade away a #1 this year for a future #1 and a 3rd this year, or something like that if they don\'t want to pay 3 different players 1st round bonus money. They could also keep Drew Brees whom Tomlinson backs as well as Gates, key weapons on offense. Great deal for San Diego and not to shabby for the 49ers either. Rivers will be a star.

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49ers | No Truth to Chargers Trade Rumor - from www.KFFL.com
Sat, 26 Mar 2005 08:59:31 -0800

Matt Maiocco, of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, reports a San Francisco 49ers team spokesman denied the speculation that there have been trade talks with the San Diego Chargers involving the team\'s No. 1 overall draft pick. The rumor had the 49ers sending the No. 1 overall pick in the draft to the Chargers for QB Philip Rivers, who was the fourth overall selection last year.


There\'s a difference between replying \"no comment\" and flat out denying that there have been trade talks. I think there\'s absolutely nothing to this rumour. If you have the #1 pick, wouldn\'t you try to make it sound like a lot of teams are interested in trading up? Remember when San Diego\'s GM implied that the Redskins were interested when their discussions were about something completely different and someone from the Redskins organization was rather angry about it?
Why should you downplay any reported interest?

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5 days later espn is reporting it on the nfl front page.

someone with insider can copy n paste.

Move Over!
Instead of the 49ers drafting former Cal QB Aaron Rodgers first, rumors are circulating that San Francisco could trade the pick to San Diego for Philip Rivers, according to Scouts Inc.\'s latest mock draft. Story

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

profootballtalk.com-

NO GO ON NINERS-CHARGERS DEAL



Now that ESPN.com and its talking foofs are taking full credit for the origination of the rumors regarding the possible trade of quarterback Philip Rivers from the Chargers to the 49ers, we\'ll go one step farther and say that there\'s no way that the deal will happen.



Per a league source, the deal was DOA due to the fact that the Niners first put out feelers after March 10, the day on which the option portion of Rivers\' rookie signing bonus came due.



If the trade had occurred prior to March 10, the Chargers would have realized a far more manageable cap hit, and the Niners would have paid the second installment on his signing bonus.



The more important point here, as we see it, is the timing of the Niners\' interest in Rivers. It appears that San Fran didn\'t decide to make a run at Rivers until after the new power structure got a chance to take a look-see at this years hot quarterback prospects -- Aaron Rodgers of Cal and Alex Smith of Utah, both of whom conducted individual workouts only days before we first caught wind of the rumors of a possible Chargers-Niners trade.



We\'re also hearing that the Niners generally are leery about the prospects of selecting a quarterback or a tailback in the No. 1 overall slot, given that a bust at that level will haunt the franchise for up to five seasons. Either the team leaves the guy in the lineup and suffer -- or pull him out and look like a bunch of nincompoops for drafting him.



By taking a defensive player or a receiver in the one hole, it\'s far easier to continue to leave the guy on the field even if he ends up being a turd.



Our guess is that, unless the Niners can swing a trade for a starting quarterback (Drew Brees is still available, theoretically), they\'ll try to trade down a few spots -- where they then can select receivers Braylon Edwards or Mike Williams.



And if they can\'t move down, our guess is that they\'ll give serious consideration to taking Edwards or Williams with the No. 1 pick.

Best Draft Rumor I've Heard
 

my opinion is it wont happen cause of the cap hit. it would be good 4 both teams but who can afford that cap hit