IMAGINARY RUMOR: Chargers pursuing Pete Carroll for 2017?

Most of the time, when an outlandish rumor is being bandied about on the Twittersphere, I avoid it. It's not worth my time or yours, and why play into the stupid media game?

Today, it's either this or more talk about relocation. (It's probably worth noting that this rumor includes some hints of relocation.) I'm going with this.

The rumor swirling around, credited only to a rival blog network, is that the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers are already planning a year ahead. They can see that Pete Carroll has one year left on his deal, and they're already planning on signing him away from the Seattle Seahawks, regardless of how their own team performs in 2016.

The reasoning, I suppose, is that Pete Carroll was beloved as the Head Coach of the USC Trojans football team and would bring some fans into the stadium if he signed with a Los Angeles NFL team.

This is entirely absurd.

The San Diego Chargers don't know where they're going to play in 2016, much less 2017, and they're not making plans based on a future in Los Angeles. They're also, for some reason, very pleased with current Head Coach Mike McCoy and would love nothing more than for him to turn the Chargers around in 2016 so that they could give him a lengthy contract extension.

If nothing else, the Chargers are a little preoccupied with the potential move to Los Angeles at the moment, and are certainly not planning a year ahead in terms of their Head Coach (nor would they be basing that decision on them being in Los Angeles, yet).

The Los Angeles Rams already have a beloved USC alumni in Jeff Fisher as their coach, and the team seems to be a QB away from being quite good. Why would they be looking to blow that up, and poison any hopes for a successful 2016 season, by pursuing another Head Coach now?

Pretty simple, really. They wouldn't.

So, where do imaginary rumors like this one come from? Simple: Follow the money.

You'll notice that a big part of this story is the part where Pete Carroll is only signed for one more year with the Seahawks. He doesn't want to be a lame duck coach, coaching on the last year of his contract, and so his agent and the team are sitting down to begin negotiations.

The Seahawks want to offer Carroll one number, and his agent wants that number to be much higher. The rules of supply and demand dictate that, to get that higher number on a limited supply, the agent has to create more demand for Pete Carroll.

*Agent picks up ringing cell phone while at the negotiating table with the Seahawks*

"WOAH! What's that, now? The Rams AND the Chargers are already calling and asking if they can sign Pete to a big contract in 2017 because they're going to be in Los Angeles and they need someone who has deep ties to Los Angeles and a built-in fanbase already? That's crazy! But I'll let the Seahawks know that they have some competition for his services now."

*Agent hands up the phone*

"You're never going to believe who just called. It was Dean Spanos and Stan Kroenke together!"

You get the idea. Agents are snakes and they slither their way into media stories when it comes time for a new contract.

Ignore this rumor. It's garbage.