On Tuesday, Titans General Manager Ruston Webster said that he has had trade talks with teams regarding the second overall pick in the 2015 draft but that none of them have been with the Chargers.
According to Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, that isn’t convincing members of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota’s camp that the Chargers won’t wind up taking a trip up the draft board to secure the Heisman Trophy winner’s services. Paolantonio reported on Wednesday that the feeling around the quarterback is that the Chargers are part of a two-team competition to make a deal that nets them Mariota.
The other team won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who’s been following Mariota buzz through the pre-draft process. It’s the Eagles and Mariota’s camp is joined by former Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti in the belief that Chip Kelly is still on the trail of the player he recruited to Oregon. Unsaid is what the two teams would be paying to move up the board, although there would seem to be a good chance that Philip Rivers or Sam Bradford would be involved in a deal that moved the Titans to a later spot in the first round.
The Rams, Jets and Browns are also mentioned as teams in the mix, which pretty well covers all the teams that have been linked with Mariota at one point or another in the process. So have the Titans, of course, and there figure to be a few more reports about their intentions before we finally find out what will happen with the No. 2 pick on Thursday.
