Chargers want ‘attractive’ offer for No. 5 pick

COSTA MESA, Calif. – Los Angeles Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz said Thursday that the Chargers aren’t interested in a “fair trade” for the No. 5 pick in next week’s NFL draft, adding that it was fair to say the team needed to be blown away to move on from that selection.

“They have to make it attractive for us to move away from those players,” Hortiz said. “The whole, ‘it’s a fair trade, it’s a wash.’ I don’t think that’s a trade that we’re interested in.”

Hortiz said that teams have reached out to the Chargers though none have made a formal offer. Teams have asked Hortiz if the Chargers would be open to trading if the player they are hoping for is available – to which Hortiz says he is – but at a hefty price.

Coach Jim Harbaugh called L.A.’s first-round pick the No. 1 pick in the draft weeks ago because of the potential of teams taking four quarterbacks ahead of them. Hortiz doubled down on that notion Thursday.

“We believe we have the first pick of the draft. I know there’s going to be four picks that go before us, but we believe that,” Hortiz said. “We know it’s the fifth pick, and people are going to be trading on that scope, but it’s got to be a good value for us. And does it have to be blown away? What is blown away? I don’t know the answer to that.”

The first three picks of the draft feature teams without a long-term answer at starting quarterback: the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, and New England Patriots. The Chargers anticipate that the Arizona Cardinals, who have quarterback Kyler Murray, may trade their pick to a team that selects a quarterback. (Hortiz noted that the Chargers are also prepared for however the top four unfold).

In that scenario, however, the chances of teams willing to offer a package to the Chargers to select a fifth quarterback in the top five seem unlikely.

From that point, Hortiz said the Chargers would stick to the best-player-available strategy he used during his 26 years in the Baltimore Ravens personnel department. He pointed to the Ravens selecting safety Kyle Hamilton with the 14th pick in 2022 despite having one of the league’s better starting safety pairings in Marcus Williams and Chuck Clark.

“We want to add depth, and certainly, there are some positions that we don’t ‘need’, but like I said, you’re one play away from needing a position. So, if you look at it based on need, you’re never one player away ever. … And so you get a chance to have a great player, and so that’s how we’re going to approach it.”

One of the biggest questions facing the Chargers since hiring Harbaugh and Hortiz is who will have the final say on personnel decisions. Harbaugh’s last NFL stint with the San Francisco 49ers was littered with reports about a power struggle between him and the front office.

Harbaugh said publicly that he felt that the “49ers hierarchy left me” when he parted ways with the team a year before the end of his contract.

On Thursday, Hortiz confirmed that he has the final say on who the Chargers draft.

“I’m the one who picks the player,” Hortiz said, “but it is when I tell you it’s a collaborative process, it’s a collaborative process. I put the list together based on what we do as a group and that’s scouting, that’s coaching, that’s talking to Jim. Jim’s input his evaluation on players. I’m the one who ranks them and, ultimately, the one that calls them.