New speculation about the Los Angeles Chargers’ refusal to sell at the NFL trade deadline points to a much bigger problem behind the scenes
If some new speculation around the Los Angeles Chargers’ inactivity at the NFL trade deadline is true, it just makes things worse.
There has been no greater disappointment this season than the Los Angeles Chargers. As the NFL’s final winless team, this was a franchise that was supposed to finally have the answer to catapulting Justin Herbert into a higher level of existence. It hasn’t happened — to say the least.
But you already knew that. And you also know that the Chargers, despite their circumstances, haven’t really nibbled at the idea of trading away players ahead of next week’s NFL Trade Deadline. And some new speculation as to why that is the case shouldn’t make you feel any better about the state of affairs in Los Angeles.
The speculation around why the Chargers aren’t selling makes their direction that much more egregious
“It has confounded rival teams who wish to peck at the Chargers’ carcass before Tuesday. And in searching for a reason, a few executives I spoke with pointed to the head coach specifically…Whether Harbaugh believes that the 0-7 Chargers can rattle off 10 straight wins and make the playoffs doesn’t necessarily matter. But that is clearly his message to his team. To trade away a “pillar” of the team such as Mack or any other top contributor would belie that message.”
— Jonathan Jones, The Athletic
Let’s be abundantly clear here. The job of the head coach of a football team is to coach the team. The job of the general manager, in this case Joe Hortiz, is to manage the roster. The traditional division of power between those two roles comes with a very obvious reason. There needs to be checks and balances in the direction of the franchise. And that’s where things get ugly if Harbaugh’s persistence is indeed pulling the Chargers away from selling any parts at the deadline.
It’s bad business
Los Angeles hoarding their players in the face of a lost season is, frankly, bad business. This team needs to have an honest conversation about where it is and where it needs to go. Hortiz sitting on his hands in a sign of solidarity for Harbaugh’s wish to push forward? That is, to me, a negligence of his responsibilities as the general manager. Hortiz is supposed to be the one determining and balancing the short-term and long-term health of this roster. Harbaugh willing the team to stand pat for his own delusion of a grand turnaround flies in the face of what the management structure is supposed to be about.
So I’ll say this. If, indeed, Joe Hortiz isn’t paying ball at the deadline because Harbaugh doesn’t want the team to waive the white flag, then Hortiz should be the first one handed his walking papers when team ownership decides they’ve had enough. It is Hortiz’s responsibility to decide what needs to happen with the roster. Period. But don’t take my word for it. Take Harbaugh’s.
“Joe Hortiz, he’s going to run it. I want him to do it because he’s watching everybody, not only on our team but every other team…I’m going to play Robin to his Batman,” he once said. Okay then. Someone light up the Bat-signal. The Chargers need him now more than ever.
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