The 2026 season is a lost one for the Chargers.
After eight weeks of football, the Chargers are the league's only winless team, and it appears they’ll remain that way for the foreseeable future.
The Chargers' season has gone from bad to worse, and calls for the team to become sellers at the trade deadline are growing louder. With Los Angeles sitting at 0-7, a fire sale could be the most logical path forward. Still, the front office appears committed to holding on to its players, even as other teams keep expressing interest.
A few Chargers could be on the trade block, but they’ll refuse to trade quarterback Justin Herbert. While Herbert seems like the safest name to avoid trading, NFL insider Albert Breer won't stop floating his name in trade rumors.
In Breer’s last video mailbag, he named the Vikings as ateam that should take a swing at Herbert.
“It can’t hurt to make that phone call if you’re the Vikings,” Breer said. “Do I think Joe Hortiz is going to say ‘no way, we can’t trade a franchise quarterback,’ yeah, I think he’s going to say no way.”
Breer also went so far as to compare Herbert’s current situation with Matthew Stafford’s when he was with the Lions.
“I will just say this about Justin Herbert. I don’t think a lot of what’s happened this year is on him. I think if you go back to last year and you talk to people around the league, a lot of people felt he was playing at an MVP level in a near-impossible situation…it reminds me of the way people talked about Matthew Stafford in Detroit.”
Herbert is far from the player we've all become accustomed to in his first six seasons in the league. The 28-year-old quarterback has regressed and is playing like a shell of himself. His numbers are also daunting, with 1,398 passing yards (23rd), 5 touchdowns (T-28), 10 interceptions (31st), and 61.8% completion.
Herbert has been sacked 27 times through seven games. He's on pace to break his career-high from last season.
The Chargers entered the season hoping to establish themselves as one of the NFL's premier teams. Instead, their disastrous start has put them in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Of course, whether the organization would embrace that possibility remains to be seen.
The NFL trade deadline is on Nov. 10.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Chargers' Justin Herbert linked to Vikings in intriguing trade speculation
