2025 Chargers Official News | Acquisitions | Transactions | Injuries

[QSmokey]

MW is a cut for me... we almost have to do that to get under the cap. KA is a keep for me... largely because we'll have to cut MW and need at least 1 good WR. Both Mack and Joey I'm good with whatever Hortiz decides. The biggest question for me is how much we can get in trade for those guys... the other question is do they fit the system...? Mack obviously saves us more cap space than Joey... so that has to be a consideration. If you cut both... then you have to get an edge player in the draft. How much draft capital do you have to spend...? Is it the same capital you got in return for the players you traded/cut...?

I'm open minded to all scenarios.

I, sadly, agree about MW and KA. I think you have to keep KA, so Williams is probably going to be a casualty.

I also don't think we're going to have that many good/very good offers for either Mack or Bosa simply because everyone (and his brother) knows that we almost certainly have to move one or both. So a lot of prospective suitors can just sit back and wait to see what we do and then jump in if/when we take action (i.e., cut one or both). Same as with the MW/KA situation, I can't see an scenario where we keep both.

[Critty]

I have no problem the way he acted. My problem was with Staley. He should have been screaming in the refs face every play, throwing the red flag at the officials and making a mockery of them until everyone is seeing it for what it was and that was either fix or a meltdown by the refs. It’s the playoffs and he just sat on his thumb and said nothing. Pathetic!

I find blaming the refs to be pathetic. I find pre snap and post snap penalties to be pathetic. I find a player who admits he was panicking mentally to be unreliable on the field. And I find a player with a history of not staying healthy to be a waste of roster spot and money.

And I find fans defense of the terrible ROI that is Joey Bosa to be laughable.

I believe Telesco was the biggest problem for the past decade.

Had Hortiz on wishlist thread 4 years ago posted.

I'm confident they found their best GM since John Butler.
And best HC since Marty. Remember the run game and how LT had like 7 TD passes. Remember the other team knew the play and could not stop it. That how to play it 1 down at a time.
Remember Deiman switch to OL as udfa. That is player development.

Butler same guy who hire Marty. Traded down in his first draft and still drafted LT and Brees. Talk about nailing it on a reset.
Too bad he passed away and didn't get to compete his vision.

Team might actually win 14 or more games again. And there is no Tom Brady who Rivers lost 2 twice in post season. It Mahomes now. And Harbaugh and Herbert and Hortiz have that triple H stuff that will knock Mahomes off the pedestal.

[SAY OW 55]

I find blaming the refs to be pathetic. I find pre snap and post snap penalties to be pathetic. I find a player who admits he was panicking mentally to be unreliable on the field. And I find a player with a history of not staying healthy to be a waste of roster spot and money.

And I find fans defense of the terrible ROI that is Joey Bosa to be laughable.

I believe Telesco was the biggest problem for the past decade.

Had Hortiz on wishlist thread 4 years ago posted.

I'm confident they found their best GM since John Butler.
And best HC since Marty. Remember the run game and how LT had like 7 TD passes. Remember the other team knew the play and could not stop it. That how to play it 1 down at a time.
Remember Deiman switch to OL as udfa. That is player development.

Butler same guy who hire Marty. Traded down in his first draft and still drafted LT and Brees. Talk about nailing it on a reset.
Too bad he passed away and didn't get to compete his vision.

Team might actually win 14 or more games again. And there is no Tom Brady who Rivers lost 2 twice in post season. It Mahomes now. And Harbaugh and Herbert and Hortiz have that triple H stuff that will knock Mahomes off the pedestal.

R.I.P. John Butler

[FoutsFan]

I find blaming the refs to be pathetic. I find pre snap and post snap penalties to be pathetic. I find a player who admits he was panicking mentally to be unreliable on the field. And I find a player with a history of not staying healthy to be a waste of roster spot and money.

And I find fans defense of the terrible ROI that is Joey Bosa to be laughable.

I believe Telesco was the biggest problem for the past decade.

Had Hortiz on wishlist thread 4 years ago posted.

I'm confident they found their best GM since John Butler.
And best HC since Marty. Remember the run game and how LT had like 7 TD passes. Remember the other team knew the play and could not stop it. That how to play it 1 down at a time.
Remember Deiman switch to OL as udfa. That is player development.

Butler same guy who hire Marty. Traded down in his first draft and still drafted LT and Brees. Talk about nailing it on a reset.
Too bad he passed away and didn't get to compete his vision.

Team might actually win 14 or more games again. And there is no Tom Brady who Rivers lost 2 twice in post season. It Mahomes now. And Harbaugh and Herbert and Hortiz have that triple H stuff that will knock Mahomes off the pedestal.

So when you are watching a game at home you would be fine with the other team lining up illegally, having 2 men in motion and not getting set before the snap. At least you are honest about it. That shit drives me up the wall.

[Fouts2herbert]

All depends on the other free agents - this year, the cut off was an AAV of $18m -- if you include the comp pick for the Rooney Rule GM or HCs

A 3rd in 2026 is probably worth a 5th in 2024 - a round per year - in value. Plus its guaranteed

That's trade value talk, a 3rd rounder will still be worth a 3rd rounder when we exercise or trade the pick in 2026...NOBODY is going to say, yeah they have a third rounder but it's not worth as much in trade because they had to wait a couple years to get it...The bigger question is, are you getting more from a third rounder in 2024 than having Mack on the roster? can't forget to factor in that value when talking about this shit...

[Fouts2herbert]

I have no problem the way he acted. My problem was with Staley. He should have been screaming in the refs face every play, throwing the red flag at the officials and making a mockery of them until everyone is seeing it for what it was and that was either fix or a meltdown by the refs. It’s the playoffs and he just sat on his thumb and said nothing. Pathetic!

even if Staley had taken Joey's helmet, walked out to the 50 yard line, and taken a shit inside of it, even then it wasn't going to put a dent into how the refs would continue to call that game...it's pointless to bitch about the refs when your behavior is giving the opponents more opportunities to keep the ball and close the gap in the score...IF the refs had actually had an agenda, Joey just made it easier for them to manipulate the game...

[FoutsFan]

even if Staley had taken Joey's helmet, walked out to the 50 yard line, and taken a shit inside of it, even then it wasn't going to put a dent into how the refs would continue to call that game...it's pointless to bitch about the refs when your behavior is giving the opponents more opportunities to keep the ball and close the gap in the score...IF the refs had actually had an agenda, Joey just made it easier for them to manipulate the game...

Not at all, you point it out and draw attention to it. How did it work out for Staley digging a hole on the sidelines and putting his head in it?

[Boltnut]

I, sadly, agree about MW and KA. I think you have to keep KA, so Williams is probably going to be a casualty.

I also don't think we're going to have that many good/very good offers for either Mack or Bosa simply because everyone (and his brother) knows that we almost certainly have to move one or both. So a lot of prospective suitors can just sit back and wait to see what we do and then jump in if/when we take action (i.e., cut one or both). Same as with the MW/KA situation, I can't see an scenario where we keep both.

That could be the case. However, if you swing a deal for either, you don't have to get into a bidding war for their services after the draft or during free agency that follows. Teams will compare Bosa/Mack to the players left on the board come draft time. If they have the cap space, and the players left don't equal the potential that a Mack or Bosa offer, then they probably swing that deal.

That's why I suggest the Chargers can get a 3rd out of Bosa or Mack. By the 3rd round, the edge players aren't to the level of Bosa/Mack. Even in the 2nd round, the edge players are not nearly as explosive or well-rounded as Mack/Bosa. But, it's hard to imagine teams passing on 2nd round players in this particular draft. I look at the Bears. They have 2 picks in the 1st... but no picks in the 2nd. They really need QB, WR, and DE. Should they get a star QB and WR with the #1 and #9 pick... they could see Mack as a good value in the 3rd round. They know what he offers and have the cap space to make it happen.

[Bolt4Knob]

Dude, I get it. You are focussed on dead money... I'm focussed on cap savings. Cap savings is what makes us a better team for next year. Trading players is also what enables us to plug holes with the acquired picks. We could argue about how to allocate the dead money until the cows come home. It doesn't matter... the money is dead. If calling it "amortized" makes you feel better... fine. But like you said, it's gone. If it makes you feel better, consider the "amortized" $15+m of Mack's 2024 dead money as actual Mack base salary for 2022 and 2023. Because the $5.2m combined base for Mack in 2022 and 2023 wasn't "actual". The contract was written for 2022 and 2023 in mind. He was never getting $38+m in 2024. And it doesn't make sense to continue to push that "amortized" money out on a 33 (34) year old player. If we can get him to agree to another $5m combined base salary for 2024-2025... go for it!

The bigger issue is... do these players fit into the new scheme? What can you get for them? What is the return-on-investment? Those are the conversations that are happening between Hortiz and Minter right now.

If they fit... then you can trade Mack, save $9+m more than trading Joey and pick up a starting center with the savings. Or pick up a free agent RB and a free agent TE with the additional savings.

If they don't fit (and you can get fair trade value) then trade both of them... and get yourself a combined $37.6m in savings against the cap.

I'm not pro-Joey and con-Mack. I don't believe it's financially sound to keep both. So, get some trade offers. In that scenario, the "amortized" money will accelerate. There will be no "creative accounting" that will save us from that. Sure, you could wait until Post-June to trade one of them, do the "fancy accounting"... but now you've missed out on filling the roster hole by bypassing the draft in April.

Keep calm and carry on
(you have some inconsistences in your cap knowledge that I do not want to try to rectify)

[Boltnut]

Keep calm and carry on
(you have some inconsistences in your cap knowledge that I do not want to try to rectify)

It's all good... pretty much done with this conversation anyways.

[Bolt4Knob]

That's trade value talk, a 3rd rounder will still be worth a 3rd rounder when we exercise or trade the pick in 2026...NOBODY is going to say, yeah they have a third rounder but it's not worth as much in trade because they had to wait a couple years to get it...The bigger question is, are you getting more from a third rounder in 2024 than having Mack on the roster? can't forget to factor in that value when talking about this shit...

I would rather have a 3rd round this year that is guaranteed than wait for maybe getting a 3rd rounder (which doesn't have the highest probability of happening - lower odds than 100%) in 2026. Somebody thought Ekeler was going to get the Chargers a 3rd round comp pick next year when he signs his contract

As for your comment about a 3rd rounder being better or having more value than Mack - you are forgetting you can sign a player with the money you didn't spend on Mack. So its really not just Mack compared to the 3rd rounder it is Mack compared to the draft pick + playuers


Fowler from ESPN is reporting there is interest from many teams on Mack.

[Lefty2SLO]

See the Jacksonville game that you describe I will have to call BS. That game is where many here bias shines. If Slater were getting beat every play because the Jags OLB lined up a yard off sides into our backfield and did the head slap on Slater and it was never called people here would have gone ballistic. Yet when the equivalent happened to Bosa the haters came out with knives in the back for him and made excuses for the horrific officiating because they were looking for an excuse to slam Bosa. I have to say that was really pathetic to see from Bolt fans.

You're being a bit disingenuous - I guarantee Mack, KVN etc were getting mauled every bit as much as Bosa - never heard a peep from them. I bet Pips and Slater were holding Jville's edge rushers all game too. All offensive linemen cheat and get away with it, including ours . Yes - it's horrific officiating, but it's relatively equally horrible for every team. My issue with Bosa in the Jville game was that he felt that he was entitled to make a huge stink (ON THE FIELD) about the same treatment every other defender had gotten throughout the year. He hurt the team's chances of winning with his antics. If he wants to go behind the bench and throw shit around and cuss and scream - be my guest, but players who are mentally tough DON'T lose their shit on the field of play.

Jville's RT was getting an early start ALL YEAR - against every other team. I don't recall a single instance in all of the other games Jacksonville played where the edge rusher lost his mind about this on the field. It's the way the game is officiate these days - the advantage is given to the Olinemen, and Dlinemen know they just have to put up with it - legal or not, EXCEPT Joey of course, who felt that he was entitled to make a scene.

Crosby was right - Joey's an entitled child with an inability to control his emotions. I can't think of a combination of player characteristics LESS likely to mesh with Harbaugh's philosophy of play . . . . . . . . . . I really don't see how he can be on the squad (under JH) going forward . . . . . . . . . .