Adam Schefter Shares Intriguing Insight on Idea of Chargers Trading Justin Herbert

The Los Angeles Chargers have had a really rough start to the season as they are now 0-5 following a last-second loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 5 by a final score of 23-17.

During the game on Sunday, quarterback Justin Herbert and the offense once again as the unit struggled to move the ball at times and gave the Broncos short fields on multiple occasions, which ended up being a major factor in why Los Angeles lost this game.

Based on the struggles that the Chargers have had this season, especially offensively, there is one key question that needs to be answered. Is a Justin Herbert trade on the board?

Interestingly enough, NFL insider Adam Schefter actually talked about this idea on his podcast, "The Adam Schefter Podcast," and there was some interesting information that he talked about.

When talking about this idea, Schefter mentioned that he was having a conversation with a high-level NFL executive and that the executive floated the idea of Herbert being traded for three first-round picks.

Now, that is a ton of draft capital, but for a quarterback of Herbert's caliber it does make sense that this could be the asking price as the Chargers would very likely need to have a ton of draft ammunition to rebuild the team and get back into a position to be competitive if they were to move on from Herbert. 

Schefter did note that Herbert has been with the Chargers for seven years and that Los Angeles has been unable to win a playoff game with him at the quarterback position. With that in mind, that could play into why the executive thinks it is a possibility, but nothing is certain in this situation.

On the other side, Schefter said he decided to call up someone in the Chargers organization and talk about this idea, but before Schefter could finish, he said the idea was shut down.

Schefter essentially said that the Chargers connection he talked with stated that not only would Los Angeles not pull the trigger on a deal to trade away Herbert, but that this kind of scenario has never been talked about or discussed.

"Let me be very clear about this. We have never even discussed that idea. The sentence should we trade Justin Herbert has never once been uttered in our organization, nor will it be," Schefter stated.

After hearing how that conversation went with Schefter and his contact in the Chargers organization, it is very clear what the thought is on Herbert and that the likelihood of him being traded is very low and, in fact, has never been discussed. However, Schefter did say on the podcast that while this is the case now, things can change.

Based on hearing how Schefter talked about these interactions with the NFL personnel, it appears that at least on the Chargers' side, even though the start to the season has been very rough, Herbert being traded away is not even on the radar which suggests that Los Angeles has a strong belief in Herbert that he can be a true franchise quarterback and that they want to keep him around.

With that said, there have been trades in the past that have shocked the NFL world, so if the Chargers struggles continue and Herbert has trouble get going as well, it may possible that at the end of the season the trade rumors begin to really heat up for Herbert potentially leaving Los Angeles in the offseason via trade.

So, as the Chargers prepare to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on the road in Week 6, it is going to be very interesting to watch how Herbert and this offense can respond, especially with the variety of injuries they have up front, because another bad week on offense may well result in Los Angeles dropping to 0-6 and the season turning out to be a true disaster for the Chargers.