NFL Trade Rumors: Tomlinson Says Philip Rivers will be Traded

Philip Rivers will not be a Charger much longer, NFL analyst LaDainain Tomlinson believes.

Tomlinson, who used to play with Rivers in San Diego, stated that the huge divide between the 33-year-old quarterback and the Chargers will lead to Rivers' departure from the team.

"You never want to trade your franchise quarterback. You know that's never the case. However, in this situation, they might have no choice but to do so," Tomlinson said Monday on NFL Network's NFL Total Access. "Because I don't know if Philip [Rivers] wants to be there anymore. I think he has lost confidence in the organization. He's seen a lot of changes going on and the L.A. thing is valid. Him not wanting to go to L.A. is very valid."

Tomlinson added that the changes in the people surrounding Rivers could affect whether or not a trade will occur before the start of the 2015 season.

Tomlinson said, "The parts around him keep on moving. The receiver corps keeps on changing. Eddie Royal is now gone. We talked about this before with Vincent Jackson leaving years ago. There are so many parts that are leaving. When Philip is looking around in that locker room and he doesn't see anyone that he's familiar with other than Antonio Gates. Now to that point, Antonio Gates next year is a free agent, Eric Weddle is gonna be up. Next year the Chargers have a lot of decisions to make with a lot of key guys. So Philip could be looking at the situation and thinking 'we're not close to winning a championship anytime soon.'"

Chargers running back, Danny Woodhead has been ignoring these trade talks. He said, "He's [Rivers] on our team and he's our quarterback. We definitely like having him as our quarterback. As far as I know he's still on our team, right? I think that's more fun for you guys to talk about."

"That's our quarterback. I mean, he's one of the elite quarterbacks in the league," left tackle King Dunlap said. "What he brings, not a lot of guys have. Him being the guy is, we're out there working for him to help him to do his job better, especially up front. If we do our job as offensive linemen, it helps him do his job a lot better and he can be the elite quarterback that he is and produce like he does, like he has for the past 10, 11 years."

Receiver Stevie Johnson added, "Rumors is rumors. He's here now."

Rivers participated in the San Diego Chargers offseason training program Monday. Rivers did not speak to the media on Monday.