The Chargers will look to avoid an 0-6 start to the season on Sunday vs. the Chiefs. It would be the first time since 2000 that the Chargers went winless in their first six games. We're in mostly unprecedented times for the organization.
As a result of their struggles in the first month of the season, the Chargers have received trade calls. Veteran EDGE rusher Khalil Mack has been at the center of reported trade interest. But for now, The Ringer's Tom Pelissero reports that GM Joe Hortiz is rejecting trade calls. The Chargers still believe they can salvage their season.
The Chargers are only delaying the inevitable by rejecting trade calls.
Via Pelissero's "The Sweep" Substack, an update on where the Chargers stand in trade talks was provided:
"Teams are calling Chargers GM Joe Hortiz, who has told multiple GMs the same thing about any potential trade offers: We’re not interested."
Pelissero continued on about how no one at The Bolt is in "fire sale mode" yet. At least for now, the Chargers genuinely believe they can overcome their 0-5 start to the season. Most sportsbooks have the Chiefs as favorites tomorrow by over a touchdown.
But let's say for the sake of conversation that the Chargers do pull off the upset tomorrow—would it really change where they stand in the macro? At 1-5 in that case, their first three games out of the BYE week would still be @ Rams, vs. Texans, @ Ravens. Especially with their current level of attrition due to injuries, I'm just not seeing this scenario where they rip off two or three straight wins to stabilize themselves by the November 10th NFL trade deadline.
Maybe the BYE week helps the team get healthier. But no 0-5 team has ever made the playoffs. And the Chargers have the worst offense in the NFL statistically. Quite frankly, they were playing at that level before the amount of injuries became overbearing.
My read of the Pelissero report is that it's posturing by Hortiz as opposed to what he plans to actually do at the deadline. Going into a game against a division rival before the BYE week, the organization doesn't want to communicate to the players that they're in tank or fire sale mode.
The list of trade target names grew to include 10 players compared to Pelissero's previous report. Pelissero's list of targets included EDGE Khalil Mack, CB Donte Jackson, EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu, LB Daiyan Henley, LB Denzel Perryman, EDGE Bud Dupree, WR Quentin Johnston, RB Kimani Vidal, RB Keaton Mitchell, and DT Dalvin Tomlinson. Combining that list with the amount of trade smoke that has been centered around Mack, that should tell you where the Chargers really stand as opposed to Hortiz temporarily rejecting calls.
From an optics standpoint, it makes sense for the Chargers to say that they're not taking calls yet with an important game to play before the BYE. But fans and the media shouldn't take Hortiz's current rejection of trades as evidence of what he'll do later. If they keep losing, there will be changes and trades. An 0-6 start with a loss to Kansas City tomorrow would be the beginning of the end.
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