Maybe it leads somewhere. Maybe it leads nowhere.

But a line of teams interested in trading for the Chargers’ No. 3 draft pick has begun to form, General Manager Tom Telesco said Tuesday.

He, coach Mike McCoy and John Spanos, the team’s president of football operations, are among the Chargers officials in Florida this week for the NFL owners’ meetings. There, representatives from multiple teams have approached the Chargers with interest in acquiring their No. 3 overall selection, Telesco said. A trade down would afford the team extra draft picks to address its roster needs.

Right now, this is just talk.


Such preliminary discussions between teams aren’t entirely uncommon at this stage of the offseason, Telesco said. How these talks develop will define if it’s the Chargers who will pick at No. 3 on April 28 or another team, perhaps one with a greater need at quarterback in a draft featuring California’s Jared Goff and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.

Two interested parties are required in any productive dialogue.

For their part, the Chargers are all ears.

“They usually ask if I’m interested, and I say, ‘Yes,’” Telesco said. “I’ve had multiple teams ask. That’s where it starts. … It’s certainly an option. We’ll just follow it through and see where it goes. The cost to go into the top five from anywhere in the first round, there’s usually a pretty big premium for that, which is why there haven’t been as many trades up that high.


“But we’ll see. Certainly, there has been some action as far as talking. We’ll see if it actually closes out on that.”

From a financial standpoint, the team has prepared itself accordingly.

It has $13.4 million in salary cap space today, according to the NFL Players Association. The Chargers know how much they need to budget for their eight assigned selections — one pick in each of the seven rounds with an extra pick in round six. Budgeting for additional selections acquired via trade, Telesco said, is “not an issue.”

“If we get the right deal, we’ll do it,” Telesco said. “If it’s the right deal and we feel like we’re going to a spot to get a real good football player, it’s something we’re definitely going to look at. That’s the same in every round you’re trading. There is no difference here. It’s no different picking at three than at 33. If you get the right deal from somebody and you feel good about it and if your board tells you that if you move down you’ll still have a good choice in players, then you do it.”


The Chargers have held a draft pick this high twice since 2001. Each time, they traded down with success.

In 2001, San Diego shipped its first overall pick to the Falcons, who selected quarterback Michael Vick, as part of a package that net the Chargers draft compensation they used for first-round running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Veteran wide receiver Tim Dwight, a 2001 third-round pick (cornerback Tay Cody) and a 2002 second-round choice (wide receiver Reche Caldwell) rounded out the compensation. The team notably took quarterback Drew Brees in that same draft with its pre-assigned, second-round pick.

In 2004, the team again had the top overall pick.

It selected quarterback Eli Manning, only to trade him for the rights to quarterback and No. 4 pick Philip Rivers, a 2004 third-round choice (kicker Nate Kaeding), a 2005 first-round pick (outside linebacker Shawne Merriman) and a 2005 fifth-round choice it traded for tackle Roman Oben.


The Chargers, if the offer is right, are willing trade partners again.