The Los Angeles Chargers will risk falling to 0-8 before the NFL trade deadline this week. 

Despite this, so far, the only big change for the Chargers is a little Mike McDaniel news. 

As for that NFL trade deadline, the Chargers won’t be sellers. That’s what head coach Jim Harbaugh and everyone else continues to say in public. It’s also what every little bit of reporting says, right up until kickoff on Sunday afternoon. 

What’s interesting now, though, is a fresh bit of reporting that says the Chargers indeed have calls on two superstar players, but that the organization is also intent on sending a pretty specific message at the deadline.

Chargers sending message at NFL trade deadline

Not that this will come as a great shock, but we now have reporting that says the Chargers are indeed getting calls on stars like Justin Herbert and Ladd McConkey. 

The report, courtesy of ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, says the Chargers are shooting down any questions about those two players. 

“The Chargers also don't like the message of giving up on the season,” the report noted. “Calls from rival general managers on Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey and others have received hard nos.”

Schefter and Rapoport also noted that the Chargers are not acting winless in their trade talks and that Khalil Mack’s status as a “pillar of the organization” has them denying any trade calls about the veteran pass-rusher, too. 

Other teams wouldn’t be operating properly if they didn’t at least ask the hapless Chargers about names like Herbert and McConkey. 

Trading either doesn't really make any sense for the Chargers though. Herbert has a no-trade clause and a staggering number of dead money on his $262.5 million contract extension if they move him. McConkey, despite his injury woes, has proven to be maybe the only viable long-term asset in the passing game. 

What the Chargers ultimately do with Harbaugh and McDaniel next offseason is a question mark. But Herbert and McConkey are two guys who will undoubtedly be on the team and serve as foundational building blocks, provided they don’t demand trades or something dramatic. 

Any chatter about the Chargers trying to send proper messages and stuff, though, is just cutesy window-dressing on a miserable season. The record and refusal to change outweighs any reported behavior while navigating the trade deadline.