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The weather, the city and the lifestyle always have been a constant in the Chargers’ pitch to free agents. Now with a revamped front office and practice facility, Joe Hortiz hopes the optimism surrounding the team will pair with its prime location to make an enticing package for the NFL’s best players.
“We’ll become a destination, I really believe that,” the Chargers general manager said Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine. “It’s a great place to live, it’s a great place to be and great people working there.”
Ahead of schedule in their rebuild under Hortiz and coach Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers can take a major swing in free agency next month with the sixth-most salary cap space in the NFL. Determined to preserve much of the roster from the team that went 11-6 and reached the wild-card round, the Chargers are in talks with their 26 players set to hit free agency.
While evaluating players for April’s draft at the combine this week, Hortiz still is plugged into discussions with key Chargers including edge rusher Khalil Mack. The 34-year-old is due to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time.
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Hortiz said he would like to get a deal done with the pass rusher before free agency opens March 12, but acknowledged the veteran may want to test the market. Approaching the twilight of his decorated career, Mack has said his main priority is winning. The three-time All-Pro has yet to win a playoff game.
But with a successful first year under Harbaugh, the Chargers have a body of work to help woo free agents searching for opportunities to win.
“Last year the pitch was really, hey, we signed a lot of prove-it type guys. Come here, you’re going to get an opportunity to compete,” Hortiz said. “That’s the same pitch this year. But we backed it up. We lived out our words.”
Where the pitch can get sweeter for the Chargers is their available cap space to complete multiyear contracts, said Hortiz, who already re-signed safety Elijah Molden to a three-year contract. But for a longtime scout who worked his way through the Baltimore Ravens front office, Hortiz’s philosophy toward team building always will prioritize the draft.
“You want to be able to draft the best player available and help the team,” Hortiz said, “because the draft is a four- or five-year solution when you pick a player. Free agency is not always that.”
The draft is considered deep at key positions for the Chargers, who could look to fill needs at running back, interior defensive and offensive lines and receiver beginning with the 22nd overall pick. The team started three former first-round picks on its offensive line last year but still struggled, giving up four sacks and nine quarterback hits in a wild-card loss to the Houston Texans.
While the Chargers are settled at left and right tackle with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, respectively, the interior offensive line could shift drastically. Center Bradley Bozeman is a free agent after starting all 18 games in his first year with the Chargers.
Of the 50 offensive linemen participating in the combine, eight are classified as centers. But the position is deeper than it appears, Hortiz said, because the Chargers scouts are instructed to consider college players who could change positions.
The team already may have one such do-it-all option. Hortiz said left guard Zion Johnson has been working at center and has the versatility to move inside. The 25-year-old was the only other Chargers offensive lineman to start every game last year.
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Although the Chargers invested in their line by drafting Alt with the No. 5 pick last year, Hortiz said the group still is not solidified and the team would “take the best player available.”
“I never think a position is solidified,” Hortiz said, “other than quarterback.”
Hortiz mum on Bosa’s future
Edge rusher Joey Bosa’s $36.47-million cap hit will be the biggest salary domino to fall for the Chargers this offseason.
Hortiz maintained that it’s possible to bring Bosa back under his current cap number, which is the highest for an edge rusher in the NFL. Bosa took a pay cut to return last year, but Hortiz declined to address whether similar conversations have taken place to retain the organization’s longest-tenured player.
“I know he wants to retire a Charger, he’s made that statement,” Hortiz said. “I’d love for him to retire a Charger.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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