Official 2026 Chargers News | Acquisitions | Transactions | Injuries

[dmac_bolt]

Ed will establish the bracket. Joe can take it to Dean Spanos if he doesn't like it I remember Dean getting Dirty Dielman at the airport when he hit the wall with Ed.
Ed is the cap manager too. If Joe successfully pushes anything over with Ed, I doubt that anyone ever finds out. Ed has held the job all these years because he cannot be pushed around.
If, on the other hand, Joe wants to pay less than Ed would allow,I expect Ed would listen.

You imagine Ed has a power relationship over Joe. I definitely do not. Ed has survived multiple tenures because he’s a team player and good at his job. But he doesn’t decide on a $140M contract - that’s way over his signature authority.

[sonorajim]

You imagine Ed has a power relationship over Joe. I definitely do not. Ed has survived multiple tenures because he’s a team player and good at his job. But he doesn’t decide on a $140M contract - that’s way over his signature authority.

OK. I don't know. I thought being a VP in charge of contracts and cap was a big deal. My impression was that Hortiz needed to work within a frame work.And I believe that he has done a great job so far. The part where he runs cap management escaped me. But I bow to your superior knowledge.

Ed McGuire is remaining in his role as executive vice president of football administration and player finance. McGuire has been the Chargers’ primary salary cap manager for over a decade. As Hortiz said Tuesday, “Ed is a wizard. I know that. His reputation preceded him with me walking in the building. So I’ll rely heavily on him with that.”

[Topcat]

I like Harbaugh but I’ll take a cerebral coach all day long versus cromagnom beast.

My favorite was soft spoken Joe Gibbs who won 3 Super Bowls in 10 years.

As many of you old timers know, Gibbs was a disciple of Don Coryell where he began his coaching career at San Diego State under Coryell and later at St. Lois Cardinals and San Diego Chargers working for Coryell.

are you saying Jim isn't cerebral? or are you saying he's a Cro-Magnon beast? or he's not soft-spoken.

not tracking here. what exactly are you saying about My Coach? I don't agree soft-spoken is a relevant factor in HC greatness, its incidental / coincidental and not causative. I also don't find Harbaugh to be notably bellicose or non-"soft spoken" - he's on the softer speaking side of the coaching spectrum imo.

Gibbs was one of many great coaches to grow out of the Coryell tree. he had a HOF cast of former assistants. Madden. Gibbs. Davis. Zampese. Hanifan. Bass. ... Coryell was not soft-spoken, that must be why he didn't win a SB.

There are MANY different styles coaches have...some are cerebral and win...some are cerebral and lose...some are motivators and win...some are motivators and lose...tough to generalize and equate style with winning...and btw, I like Harbo...

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Most successful coaches are yellers. Some might believe that a coach can't be successful if he doesn't yell, but Tony Dungy and Joe Gibbs would beg to differ with you.

Coaches have to have a variety of capabilities. But they also have to be themselves, because players will sniff out someone who's ingenuine very quickly. I think that's a big reason why there IS no singular coaching style that must be followed or duplicated in order to achieve success.

[Scharnhorst43]

If the Chargers cut Trey Pipkins they will save 7 mil. And that could sweeten the Slater negotiation. I would probably do that. We are getting close to training camp and i want the OL secured and stable. Am i way off?

[Boltnut]

If the Chargers cut Trey Pipkins they will save 7 mil. And that could sweeten the Slater negotiation. I would probably do that. We are getting close to training camp and i want the OL secured and stable. Am i way off?

Trey's contract was a bad one... for sure. But do we have anyone better at back-up OT...?
I'm sure competition in training camp will show us. Maybe Hortiz finds a camp/cap cut...

But the move will be based on skill... not cap money.
Slater's new contract can be organized many different ways... I don't think we need Trey's savings to make it happen.

(Edit) Right now... we have Tyler McClendon, Cory Stewart, and Savion Washington behind Pip @#3OT. Not inspiring...

[CanadianBoltFan]

Trey's contract was a bad one... for sure. But do we have anyone better at back-up OT...?
I'm sure competition in training camp will show us. Maybe Hortiz finds a camp/cap cut...

But the move will be based on skill... not cap money.
Slater's new contract can be organized many different ways... I don't think we need Trey's savings to make it happen.

It has been talked about that the likely structure of Slater's contract could actually create more cap space for 2025

[Boltnut]

It has been talked about that the likely structure of Slater's contract could actually create more cap space for 2025

Yeah. It's the way GM's like to structure contracts now.
I don't know what we need the extra cap for, though.
Extra cap at the end of the season gets rolled over, anyways.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Yeah. It's the way GM's like to structure contracts now.
I don't know what we need the extra cap for, though.
Extra cap at the end of the season gets rolled over, anyways.

We are in good shape for 2026 with a projected NFL leading 110 million in cap space

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Last summer, Joe Hortiz looked at the Tennessee Titans' roster, and knew from their depth at DB that they'd be cutting better DB talent than some of the DBs on the Bolts' roster.

So Joe made contact with the Titans' GM and arranged to trade a 7th round pick in exchange for a guy that the Titans were going to cut, Elijah Molden.

This summer, Hortiz will be examining which NFL rosters are especially deep at the IOL positions, and will no doubt investigate the possibility of acquiring a player before he hits the waiver wire.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Last summer, Joe Hortiz looked at the Tennessee Titans' roster, and knew from their depth at DB that they'd be cutting better DB talent than some of the DBs on the Bolts' roster.

So Joe made contact with the Titans' GM and arranged to trade a 7th round pick in exchange for a guy that the Titans were going to cut, Elijah Molden.

This summer, Hortiz will be examining which NFL rosters are especially deep at the IOL positions, and will no doubt investigate the possibility of acquiring a player before he hits the waiver wire.

Hope you are right, but it does need to be stated that useful offensive lineman are the rarest thing to be cut from NFL rosters. Trade maybe, though most NFL teams are looking for better o line depth, not moving it.

[dmac_bolt]

OK. I don't know. I thought being a VP in charge of contracts and cap was a big deal. My impression was that Hortiz needed to work within a frame work.And I believe that he has done a great job so far. The part where he runs cap management escaped me. But I bow to your superior knowledge.

Ed McGuire is remaining in his role as executive vice president of football administration and player finance. McGuire has been the Chargers’ primary salary cap manager for over a decade. As Hortiz said Tuesday, “Ed is a wizard. I know that. His reputation preceded him with me walking in the building. So I’ll rely heavily on him with that.”

I’m just guessing too, but the top dog, which in NFL is GM, is not run by one of his underling employees. Top management always gets involved on the biggest deals, underlings don’t sign $140M contracts on their own.

Ed is a wizard at juggling and structuring comp contract terms into fine print to manage the overall team cap plan over the next 1, 3, 5 years. I am sure Joe expects that from him, and expects Ed to bring forward the best possible terms structure for the team. I’m also sure Ed isn’t working alone - he has staff that does a lot of analysis that then get’s Ed’s stamp/name on it.

Joe will decide the big contract numbers and task Ed to design fine print so it hits team cap per year as best he can and advise what is left for Joe to work with. Ed will work day-to-day negotiations with Slater’s agents and offers his expert opinions and advice, gives Joe status reports, supporting data such as detailed market comp analyses, projected out-year cap projections, and recommend contract structuring benefits for the team. thats his job and good employees that work for great managers are encouraged to challenge and recommend and offer optimal solutions - I do that for my CEO every week. Sounds like Joe does exactly that with Ed, which is great.

But like Ed, I’m still not the CEO, I don’t sign any major deals on my own that don’t get his personal approval and Slater’s next deal will be the second biggest one on their books. Joe has to be the final decider.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if Joe has to run any +$100M deal past the owners, actually. We don’t make any major investments or acquisitions without Board approval. The Board doesn’t make the deals, thats our job to develop deals and bring them to the board. Even the CEO (GM) has a boss (or committee of bosses, don’t start me on the intra-dynamics and politics of board members lol) and limits on what can be done without board approval.

No company in the world lets a VP decide the biggest deal the company makes alone.