Joe Hortiz’s phone has been ringing or buzzing or doing whatever his ring tone does for days and weeks. Fellow general managers around the NFL have been calling to gauge the Chargers’ GM’s interest in trading the fifth overall pick, conversations that have lacked substance so far.
No question, the Chargers could make a deal Thursday. Hortiz could swap his top pick, move back in the first-round order and perhaps pick up an additional pick or two or three and add them to the nine he already has in the seven-round draft. But what would he get in return? Would it be favorable?
Frankly, Hortiz said, it had better be a one-sided deal to the Chargers’ benefit.
Otherwise, forget about it.
For starters, Hortiz and the Chargers believe they will be in a position to draft the top position player available, after four quarterbacks are selected. It could mean they pick Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., or LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, or Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt, or another top-rated standout.
Flipping the No. 5 selection would prove costly for any Chargers trade partner.
“They have to make it attractive for us to move away from those players,” Hortiz said last week when referring to players such as Harrison, Nabers and Alt without actually mentioning them by name. “The whole, ‘It’s a fair trade, it’s a wash.’ I don’t think that’s a trade that we’re interested in.”
So far, conversations between Hortiz and other GMs have lacked specifics, but he said during an extended interview with reporters last week that he expected that to change starting Thursday, when the first round of the draft is conducted. Rounds 2 and 3 will be Friday and Rounds 4 through 7 will be Saturday.
“We’ve talked through it, but no offers, no picks,” Hortiz said.
He also said, “Draft day, that’s when it will pick up.”
So, why consider a deal at all if a team values its pick as much as the Chargers would seem to, especially after losing wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams as salary cap casualties last month? Why even listen to offers when the player the Chargers covet would be theirs for the taking?
What’s the rationale behind even thinking about trading down?
“That we’ve gotten a nice result in picks and value,” Hortiz said. “That’s going to be the reason because there are really good players, great players, that we’re going to be staring at (with the fifth pick). If we’re going to trade away from great players, there has to be a reason, in terms of value, for us. Certainly, there are going to be more great players in the draft, but it has to make sense to you and it has to make sense to the team that is wanting to come up.”
Advantage, Chargers? It would seem so.
Related Articles
Alexander: Chargers might trade the No. 5 pick – and they should
NFL draft: Will the Chargers consider WR Marvin Harrison Jr. best available?
Chargers prepare for NFL draft to ‘create great depth’
Chargers planning to sign running back J.K. Dobbins to 1-year contract
Chargers want to create ‘epic’ offense with passing and running
“If we had the first pick of the draft, there would probably be a lot of calls being made and people would be making offers already,” Hortiz said. “But, we don’t. We have the fifth pick. In terms of where we’re sitting, we believe, and I think Coach (Jim Harbaugh) mentioned, we actually have the first pick if a run of quarterbacks go. People have called about interest in coming up to us. We’ve had conversations. I think we’ll have conversations through this week. I’ve had them already this week. We’ll have them through the weekend, through next week.”
Maximizing draft picks is vital in the first draft for Hortiz with the Chargers.
“It’s just like baseball,” he said. “The more at-bats you get, the more chances that you have hits. I’m a big baseball guy. If you hit .300, with 10 at-bats versus 20 at-bats, you get six more hits. If you hit .500, you get five more hits. The more at-bats you get, the better. We want to hit them all. But we understand that it’s the draft and there are times that you may not get the same value you anticipate you’re drafting.”
In other words, expect the Chargers to swing for the fences in trade scenarios.
_0cc1e3201b.jpg)
