From SI "Now the bluffing game is on, and it could go all the way to the draft. We don't want to give up on getting a number one pick. It's very much on the front burner, and it hasn't subsided. The game is on now." -- San Diego GM A.J. Smith, commenting to the San Diego Union Tribune on the possibility of trading restricted free-agent running back Michael Turner before the draft. Smith says Buffalo, Tennessee and four teams he wouldn't name are interested in Turner. The Chargers have a choice. They retain the right to demand first- and third-round draft choices for Turner -- a deal even Smith knows is unrealistic for a backup running back -- or Smith can choose to make a lesser deal with an interested team before the draft. Smart money around the NFL thinks Smith will take a high second-round pick for Turner ... if the Chargers have a player in mind at the top of the second round they like more than Turner. If they don't deal Turner now, and then don't re-sign him before January, they're likely to lose him in free agency next offseason.
IMO the Chargers would be absoutely stupid to not take a deal with the Titans to swap 1st rounders and maybe our last 4th rounder. Turner is gone after this year, no doubt. Swapping first rounders is equal in points to trading a 2nd round pick so the value of the trade for SD would not be bad. From our perspective the deal is a good one. Turner might be as good as any running back in this draft maybe with the exception of Peterson. I would put his value closer to Lynch. Thus, getting Turner is like getting a first round pick at RB for our #19 pick (about where we would have to draft Lynch if he is even there), we still have a first rounder at #30, still have our 2nd round pick and only lose a 4th rounder (about what SD would get next year in compensation).
Soxcat, what if we do that whole swap deal and someone like Jamaal Anderson falls to #19? We'd be kicking ourselves, especially if he turns out to be a pro-bowl DE. Then, what if Turner turns out to be a dud? I mean, TJ Duckett looked real good with the Falcons behind Warrick Dunn, but absolutely sucked filling in as the #1 in Washington last year. Duckett even had more production and didn't cost the Redskins nearly what Turner is going to cost someone. I think we should stick to the draft and see who becomes available after cuts.