Will the San Diego Chargers trade Shawne Merriman?

The AFC West division is not exactly what it used to be as the San Diego Chargers are the only team left in the division that really pose a threat to the rest of the AFC Conference, but as time has rolled on and the Chargers haven’t consistently dominated the division, the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders haven’t started to improve their franchises through the NFL Draft and trades over the years.

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Coming into the 2010-2011 NFL season, the Chargers will still be the team to beat in the AFC West division and in the AFC Conference for that matter, but the other teams in the division are catching up to Philip Rivers and company and could pose a threat.

One of the main concerns of the Chargers heading into next season will be on the defensive side of the football as they might have to go on without arguably their best defensive player in linebacker Shawne Merriman.

Even though Merriman has been somewhat of a problem child over the years for the San Diego Chargers, they can’t argue with the production he puts out on the field as his presence alone makes them a better team on the defensive side of the football.

Unfortunately, the Chargers might be done with Merriman’s antics as they seem content with trading away their three-time All-Pro as trade rumors have circulated all over the league over the past couple of months.

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There is no doubt that the Chargers would love to have Merriman back next season staring down opposing quarterback, but the three-time Pro Bowler wants a new deal and the San Diego brass could choose to trade him instead.

As usual, a player of Shawne Merriman’s caliber possibly being on the open market has got the attention of a lot of teams around the league as any team in the NFL would love to upgrade their defense with a beast like Shawne Merriman, but at this point in time the superstar linebacker remains on the San Diego Chargers’ roster.

The main reason for the trade talk involving Merriman came from the Pro Bowl linebacker’s doubts that the San Diego Chargers no longer wanted him, but in a way to show that they are still interested in keeping him on the payroll, at least for the time being, the team has placed a first and third round franchise tender on arguably their best defensive player.

This may have made Merriman happy for the time being, but the Chargers have yet to sign him to a new deal which he set out to do in the first place and that could ultimately make him holdout before the upcoming season.

Even though Merriman may holdout, I really don’t think they will wait long before signing him to contract extension, especially after Elvis Dumervil just signed a huge contract extension with the Denver Broncos in July.

So in my opinion, Shawne Merriman isn’t going anywhere, but if the team cannot come to an agreement with their superstar linebacker they might be forced to send him elsewhere and the Denver Broncos could be a likely destination as Elvis Dumervil just went down with torn pectoral muscle that will keep him out at least four months.