NFL Trade Deadline: 30 greatest trades in NFL history

8. Eli Manning, Philip Rivers traded on draft day

Only time will tell if Eli Manning ever earns a trip to Canton. It’s tough to ignore the fact that he’s a two-time Super Bowl champion, along with his impressive accomplishment of starting 210 games in a row before his former head coach Ben McAdoo messed things up. However, the beginning of Manning’s career was certainly filled with plenty of drama, which of course was his own fault.

During the 2004 NFL Draft, the then-San Diego Chargers had the rights to the No. 1 pick. Despite their interest in the Ole Miss standout, Manning made it clear right away he had zero interest in playing for the team.

Obviously, this wasn’t the first time a quarterback made a refusal like this. The NFL has seen plenty of players in Manning’s position over the years do the same. At least the Chargers were still able to get another quarterback in Philip Rivers (No. 4 to the New York Giants) along with a few extra draft picks, including a first-rounder in 2005.

Even though Rivers has yet to win a single Super Bowl in his career, he’s still put together quite the amazing career with the Chargers. He has started every game for the team dating back to the 2006 season. This was the year he officially took over the starting role from Drew Brees.

Who knows how differently the careers of both Manning and Rivers would have been if this epic trade never went down. As they always say, everything happens for a reason, which seems to have been the case here.