{"id":859615,"date":"2026-04-07T20:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859615\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:06:26","slug":"chargers-browns-projected-trade-shakes-up-nfl-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859615\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers, Browns Projected Trade Shakes up NFL Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> trading around on draft day almost feels inevitable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz loves to wheel and deal during the process. Obviously, the biggest example that comes to mind is that ripoff of the New England Patriots<\/a> a few years back when he went up and got Ladd McConkey, then used the other parts of the trade to get quality starters in the secondary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to this year\u2019s draft, Hortiz and the Chargers sit in an interesting spot at No. 22. That\u2019s a prime position to get a nice value on a trade out as quarterback-needy teams get desperate. But it also puts them in position to make a jump up the board, if so desired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a new mock draft that features a handful of trades, the Chargers are one of the teams wheeling and dealing and fall down the order a bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chargers, Browns strike mock draft trade\"Los<\/p>\n

Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Some trades are small, at least at first glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the deal in a new mock draft from USA Today\u2019s Tyler Dragon<\/a>, where the Chargers trade out of No. 22 with the Cleveland Browns, dropping two spots in the order.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At No. 24, the Chargers go with a familiar name, grabbing Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cClemson players go back-to-back. The Chargers lost Odafe Oweh, who thrived as their third edge rusher, in free agency. Los Angeles needs to find a long-term replacement for Khalil Mack. The Chargers traded a couple picks down and got a player who fills an area of need. Parker is a powerful edge rusher and stout run defender with impressive size.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a pretty big deal for the Chargers. They get a guy who is likely No. 1 on their board while adding more selections in a draft class where they enter with just five picks. The more, the better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parker is a big deal, too. He can learn from Khalil Mack for at least one year alongside the likes of other developmental names like Kyle Kennard. Then, he can possibly form a one-two punch with Tuli Tuipulotu for the long-term.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So while this might look small on paper, the long-term effect could be profound, sort of like that mentioned McConkey deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign Up For the Chargers Daily Digest – OnSI\u2019s Free Los Angeles Chargers Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Chargers trading around on draft day almost feels inevitable.\u00a0 Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz loves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,2444,2443,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-859615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangeleschargers","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116365230354776532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}