The Sports Xchange

The San Diego Chargers pulled the trigger on the first trade of the 2015 NFL Draft, but the move was in an effort to protect quarterback Philip Rivers – not ship him out of town.

The Tennessee Titans were not blown away by the Chargers or anyone else rumored to be interested in the No. 2 overall pick and selected Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Chargers, rumored in the weeks leading up to the draft to be interested in moving up for Mariota, told Rivers they had no intention of dealing him.

It wasn’t until the 15th overall pick Thursday night that the first trade was consummated, and the price tag the Chargers paid spoke volumes as to why there was no trade movement earlier.

San Diego entered the draft with the 17th overall pick, and sent the San Francisco 49ers a fourth-round pick this year (No. 117 overall) and a fifth-round pick in 2016 just to move up two spots to select Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon.

Gordon immediately steps in as the feature back the Chargers need following the free agent departure of Ryan Matthews to the Philadelphia Eagles. San Diego finished 30th in the NFL with an average of just 85.4 rushing yards per game last season.

The 49ers slid back only two spots, and used the 17th pick on Oregon defensive end Arik Armstead.