QB-needy teams can't count on Chargers for help in NFL Draft

The Los Angeles Chargers are in a spot many teams envy. They have their franchise QB for the next decade in Justin Herbert. They have their new head coach, Jim Harbaugh. What seals the deal is they have the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, in the perfect position to take a game-changer on either side of the ball.

The Chargers also, if they'd prefer to go this route, have a pick that QB-needy teams would covet. The fifth overall selection won't get teams Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels, but there's a chance that a guy like J.J. McCarthy is on the board, especially if the Cardinals pass on trading the No. 4 pick to a team in need of a quarterback.

The Chargers can trade the No. 5 pick and get a monster haul, but Chargers GM Joe Horitz just threw some cold water on that possibility.

QB-needy teams likely can't count on Chargers for help in NFL Draft

"They have to make it attractive for us to move away from those players," Hortiz said, h/t ESPN. "The whole, 'It's a fair trade, it's a wash' -- I don't think that's a trade that we're interested in."

Horitz is making his stance crystal clear. Sure, they'll trade the pick, but it has to be for the kind of value teams would never offer. He's not interested in a fair trade. He's interested in a fleece.

Honestly, this kind of stance makes a lot of sense. It's a weird thing to hear publicly, but the Chargers have absolutely no reason to cave to the QB-needy teams. If you're desperate enough to trade for a QB, meet our demands.

The Chargers have several options for what they can do with the No. 5 overall pick. Can you imagine Justin Herbert throwing the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr.? Why would you part with that option unless you get an unbelievable haul?

There's a chance that the Chargers get their choice of the player they deem to be the best non-QB prospect out there. That's such an incredibly valuable pick to have, and one that Harbaugh and Horitz have called essentially the No. 1 pick. Here's what Horitz had to say:

"We believe we have the first pick of the draft. I know there's going to be four picks that go before us, but we believe that," Hortiz said. "We know it's the fifth pick and people are going to be trading on that scope, but it's got to be a good value for us. And does it have to be blown away? What is blown away? I don't know the answer to that."

He's not revealing a price, but he's telling other GMs that they're going to have to give up more than they'd like to get the No. 5 pick. The deal won't be viewed as "fair" by analysts or the rest of the league. The Chargers have little incentive to move the pick, and absolutely should not barring an insane haul.

No, the pick is not untouchable, but the Chargers refusing to trade it barring a massive haul makes it unlikely that teams in need of a quarterback can get that pick.