The NFL Draft begins in eight days. So of course, when Chargers general manager Tom Telesco addressed the San Diego media on Wednesday morning, he knew exactly what everyone wanted to hear.
Without even being prompted, Teleso’s opening statement pointed a spotlight at the elephant in the room.
"I'll give a Philip Rivers update: there really isn't any," said Telesco. "It’s the same thing I’ve been saying the last four months. Philip is our quarterback and it’s our plan an intent that he’s our quarterback well in to the future. He’s been here working hard every day with his team mates, being the leader that he is. I know he’s really excited about this season, as are we."
With that, the questions about Philip Rivers came anyway. Such as, if Philip is their quarterback, why did they fly all the way to Oregon to work out Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota?
“That’s just kind of what we do,” said Telesco. “In player evaluation you’re never going to be 100-percent right, but we will be 100-percent right in the preparation. When it comes to quarterbacks, we just have to scout them a little bit differently, there’s a lot more that goes in to it. It’s not something new.”
So how about a trade? Are the Chargers actively looking in to dealing their franchise QB? One this point, Telesco was insistent.
"I've been crystal clear about what our intentions are with Philip Rivers."
Well then, have the Tennessee Titans asked about the possibility of a trade involving Rivers and the number two overall pick in the Draft?
“I’m gonna leave that go.”
So that would suggest the possibility of a trade has been discussed, even if was originated in Nashville instead of San Diego. Internally, have the Chargers talked in their building about any scenario that would involve trading the number 17 overall pick in a package to move up to the number two overall pick?
“No.”
Oh course, that does not mean zero trade scenarios have been discussed, only that the Bolts have not probed the possibility of sending their pick to Tennessee for their pick. But, Telesco did not rule out the possibility of a trade in some capacity on Draft day.
“I like picking where we are at 17,” said Telesco. “I think we can get a difference-making player there. I also think we have the flexibility to go up or down if need-be.”
Telesco also briefly addressed another pending Chargers free agent, safety Eric Weddle, who said this week he is not taking part in this week’s voluntary off-season workout program for the first time because he has been asking the team about a contract extension to no avail.
Telesco’s response was, there is a time table for everything in this business, and they haven’t reached that part of the program yet.
“On our calendar, our heavy focus in March is for signing players of our own team with expiring contracts and then looking to sign players from other teams with their expiring contracts. The focus in April is the Draft. Once you get in to May, June, July before training camp, that’s when you start looking at extending some players and we’ve got a number of players here that we’ll be looking to about extensions and he’ll certainly be one of them.”
Telesco then gave Weddle the same compliment he’s been giving to Rivers.
"We're a better team with Eric and I hope he's here for a long time to come."
Now, all of this could be a smoke screen. NFL front offices are notorious for being shady, if not outright misleading, in their dealings with the media, especially when the Draft is involved. However, Telesco, who was for the most part upbeat and even playful during the near half-hour meeting, was more forthright than many of his colleagues. He has a very good reason for not lying in public.
“I’m Catholic, I tell the truth,” said Tom, smiling and then expanding with, "I'm not going to lie straight out to you but there are things I can't be as detailed about as we’d like to be.”
For many Chargers fans, this season … and the future of this franchise in San Diego … could use a few successful Hail Marys.
