Los Angeles Chargers: Trading Travis Benjamin should be considered

Big trades rarely happen away from the NFL Draft in the NFL. However, one big trade the Los Angeles Chargers can make would be with Travis Benjamin.

The Los Angeles Chargers have one of the deepest, most talented receiving cores in the NFL that not many people seem to be talking about.

Leading the way is Keenan Allen, who at his best, is a top-three receiver in the NFL. Injury concerns are reasonable to doubt Allen’s consistency, but he did accomplish something no receiver had ever done last season. Allen became the first person in NFL history with three straight games with one touchdown, 10 catches and 100 yards.

Behind him is Tyrell Williams, who is Philip Rivers‘ favorite deep threat. Williams is a speedy option that is great on third and medium situations. Williams also uses his speed, acceleration and awareness to get open deep. Chargers fans saw plenty of deep bombs to Williams last season.

The Los Angeles Chargers also used the seventh overall pick in 2017 on Clemson’s Mike Williams, who was the best receiver in that class. Although Williams as not yet shown his potential, due to injury, the sky is the limit for him alongside Tyrell Williams and Keenan Allen.

There is also tight end Hunter Henry and halfbacks Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler, who all play significant roles in the passing game.

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There is one receiver that seems to be on the outside looking in heading into next season: Travis Benjamin.

Benjamin is still a great, reliable receiver for Rivers that gives yet another outlet to pass to on third and long situations. Benjamin was key at coming up with big first down conversions last year and also hauled in four touchdowns last season.

The problem is, though, that Mike Williams may start seeing more time on the field, forcing Benjamin off of the field more frequently. Of course, keeping Benjamin as a depth piece and as an option in spread packages is valuable.

Trading him may also be valuable, though.

As the Los Angeles Chargers get closer to the season the team will get a better idea of what to expect out of Mike Williams. If the team thinks that Williams can take the snap increase, trading Benjamin is a reasonable price to pay, likely for a future draft pick.

These kind of trades are not “fun” for fans, but can help a lot more than you would think in the future. Without taking a huge hit, the Chargers could probably net a third or even a second-round pick for Benjamin.

As Rivers gets older, with the Chargers not yet drafting his successor, these picks become immensely important. Especially if the Chargers become one of the best teams in football. If the Chargers need to move up to draft a quarterback, the team would have more ammunition to trade away.

Obviously, if there are any concerns or injury threats around any of the other receivers then keeping Benjamin until the deadline is a given. However, after drafting receiver Dylan Cantrell, the Chargers do have more receiver depth. Keeping Benjamin with Williams is no longer imperative.

Next: Way-too-early targets for the 2019 NFL Draft

At the end of the day, it is all going to come down the performance of the other wide receivers on the roster. However, moving forward, trading Travis Benjamin should at least be considered.

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