Joe Hortiz on potential first-round trade: ‘We’ll take the best one if we do move back’

Although the Chargers have the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the franchise is still weighing whether to trade down. General manager Joe Hortiz spoke on potential trades and outcomes for the team. 

According to Hortiz, the Chargers will need to be “blown away” to trade down from the fifth pick. 

It’s important to note that if the first four picks are quarterbacks, Los Angeles will have the best non-quarterback option available, like Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. 

“If four quarterbacks go, we strongly believe we have the first pick,” Hortiz said. “So, what are teams willing to give us? Now, we know it’s the fifth pick and teams are going to be trading on that scope, but it’s got to be a value for us.

“Do we have to be blown away? What is blown away? I don’t know the answer to that,” Hortiz added. “You weigh the options and the offers that we get. We’ll take the best one if we do move back.”

It all comes down to value. Which move has more value for the Chargers: trading down or sticking with No.5? A trade-down situation would mean extra picks to help fill out the roster’s holes. 

“That’s going to be the reason because we’ve got really good players, great players that we’re going to be staring at,” Hortiz said. “So if we’re going to trade away from great players, there’s got to be a reason in terms of value for us. Certainly, there’s going to be more great players, but it’s got to make sense for you and it’s got to make sense for the team that wants to come up.

“There’s certainly, ‘It’s too good of a deal’, in terms of what you’re getting back,” Hortiz added. “They have to make it attractive to us for us to move away from those players. The whole, ‘It’s a fair trade, it’s a wash’. I don’t think that’s a trade we’re interested in.”

Hortiz has already had conversations with different teams that have expressed interest in trading picks. 

“The draft is the draft,” Hortiz said. “You think you know what they’re going to do but you actually don’t until it happens.”