Chargers News: GM Joe Hortiz Unpacks His Most Controversial Offseason Move

James Brizuela | Aug 1, 2024

Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Los Angeles Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz during the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Chargers are coming into 2024 with a new head coach, front office, and a new team. Though there are a lot of familiar faces that have returned, the team lost a lot of high-level talent.

Two of the biggest stars the Chargers let go was wide receivers Mike Williams, and Keenan Allen.

Williams signed with the New York Jets as a free agent, and Allen was traded to the Chicago Bears after negotiations crumbled on the veteran taking a pay cut to remain with the team.

Chargers fans and pundits were naturally upset that new general manager Joe Hortiz allowed the biggest offensive weapon to be traded, but the business of the NFL can sometimes rear its ugly head. Losing Allen was a part of that business, and Hortiz has finally addressed this.

Hortiz joined the Rich Eisen show to talk about the offseason of the team and excitement revolved around the new Harbaugh era. Eisen questioned Hortiz about the big decisions that he had to make, including letting Allen go.

"You know going into it, it was going to be hard. We talked about it. We had four big salaries with four great players. We knew we were going to have to make hard decisions ... including Bosa and Mack, Keenan and Mike. You know, we were fluid, and they all understood it."

The Chargers did find themselves in a less-than-perfect cap room situation, and the result of that was allowing both Allen and Williams to go to other teams.

Williams was coming off a torn ACL, and though the expectation is that he can return to proper form in 2024, there is no guarantee of that.

Losing Allen was a big blow to the offensive power of the Chargers, but he is also 32 years old. Despite Allen still playing at a high level, age comes for every NFL player.

Instead of taking on both contracts, the Chargers instead wanted to retain both Mack and Bosa, who are anchors on the defensive side of the ball. The move was highly controversial, as it now places the wide receiver room in a precarious position.

The current room has Quentin Johnston, who had a rough rookie season, Joshua Palmer, DJ Chark Jr., and Ladd McConkey as starters.

Palmer and Chark are veterans, but only Chark has surpassed 1,000 yards once in his six-season career.

Johnston is entering his second year and McConkey is a rookie. There are a lot of question marks at the receiver position, but hopefully losing Williams and Allen won't come back to haunt Hortiz.

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