This is a very diplomatic way to present trade rumors, that isn’t as damaging to the team-player relationship, if you keep the player:
“Quarterback trade talks across the league already have heated up, and multiple teams have reached out to the New York Jets to express interest in trading for Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018, per league sources,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter announced on Sunday.
The semantics being used by the sources is important to consider here. The sources are telling the reporter that teams are calling about Darnold, and isn’t saying the Jets are shopping Darnold.
This delineation is very important to point out, because if it’s just teams calling about the player, and the team is not actively shopping the player, this perhaps doesn’t damage the relationship with the player, as much, if they decide to keep the player. After all, the Jets aren’t the ones doing the calling.
Any team is allowed to call any other team to inquire about the availability of a player. There was a report that teams have called Seattle about Russell Wilson. There is nothing to prevent a team from calling another club to see if a player is available.
This is a skillful way for a team to perhaps increase trade value without overtly shopping the player, which can be a major bridge burner, in a team-player relationship.
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