Chargers predicted to stun with aggressive trade up with 49ers in mock draft

Chris Roling | Mar 22, 2025

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The Los Angeles Chargers figure to attack the tight end and wideout positions early in the 2025 NFL draft for Justin Herbert one year removed from dismantling those rooms.

How aggressive Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz and the front office plan on being while doing so, though, remains to be seen.

The Chargers are, after all, the team that entered free agency without around $90 million in free cap space and opted to stay away from “blockbuster” style moves, instead making a series of smaller additions.

A new mock draft from Newsweek’s Seth Quinn that has the Chargers trading up to No. 11 with the San Francisco 49ers to take Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan, then, is pretty shocking:

“This pick feels like a home run on paper, as the Chargers add McMillan to an offense with Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey, and Najee Harris. The Chargers steal him from the Cowboys, while the 49ers gain more draft capital to help replace all the players they lost in free agency.”

McMillan is a fantastic prospect who would project incredibly well in Herbert’s offense, of course. But his draft stock is currently all over the place and one mock draft even has him falling to the Chargers at No. 22.

The Chargers did trade up to take Ladd McConkey last year. But that went down in the second round and saw the teams swapping picks in the triple digits, too. A similar move, especially for a guy they like falling near the end of the opening round or even into the second might make more sense.

Then again, perhaps the Chargers have been biding their time before the “blockbuster” move and they do something like this. It would certainly fit the description.