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Are the Chargers Trying to Trade for Branden Albert?

Rumors are swirling that the San Diego Chargers are ready to give up a second-round pick and sign LT Branden Albert to a long-term contract. Those rumors are untrue, and I'll tell you why.

By John Gennaro
Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Let's start with this tweet that LobShots sent my way:

Hmmm. Well, I have been an ardent supporter of the Chargers trading for Branden Albert when it became apparent that the Kansas City Chiefs weren't interested in Albert being their long-term answer at Left Tackle, and when Albert subsequently made it apparent that he wasn't interested in playing Right Tackle. Let's see what this article from "KC Kingdom" says.

According to Brian Harrington of Pro Football Central, the San Diego Chargers are highly interested in obtaining a left tackle to protect Philip Rivers in an effort to make one last run with Rivers. They are so willing, in fact, to add this tackle that they are both willing to trade their 45th overall selection in the draft to Kansas City and pay Albert the $9-$10 million per year that he is demanding.

Well, this is awkward. I'm not going to say that Brian Harrington has never broken a news story like this before, but it seems a little unlike that he would. When BFTB has more followers than you, you're probably not privy to secret information about the San Diego Chargers before the likes of Schefter, Mort and Acee. However, that's just an assumption.

Let's dig deeper and see what Brian's post actually said about the matter.

The San Diego Chargers are willing to pay Chiefs offensive tackle $9-10 million a year if it means protecting Philip Rivers. The Miami Dolphins as of now are all but out of the race . The Chiefs are very interested in Sheldon Richardson if they get San Diego's pick.

Source

That's weird. Why doesn't it say which pick would be offered? What else could paying Albert $9-10 million a year mean besides protecting Philip Rivers?

Oh, Brian just put up a new tweet!

That doesn't really say anything more than what Brian was saying before. I'm not sure what Brian's source is on all of this, and nobody else is backing up the story.

Bullshit Detector

In situations like these, you have to follow logic to figure out who would benefit most from this information. In this case, that would be Albert's agent that has been given the right to negotiate with the Dolphins by the Chiefs (who have placed the franchise tag on Albert).

Albert's agent wants to make it seem like the Chargers are chomping at the bit to get a shot at Albert, even though the Chargers are not allowed to talk with him about Albert without permission by Kansas City (which has not been granted). Also, the Chargers can't trade for Albert without the Chiefs agreeing to trade within their division, which there is no sign that they are willing to do.

In all likelihood, Albert's agent is once again asking for too large of a contract and has tried to drum up some non-existent competition for the Dolphins as a way to force them to agree to his terms. I'm assuming the Dolphins, the Chargers, the Chiefs and most of the NFL's fans will see right through this scheme and eventually Branden will end up settling for less-than-elite money.

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