{"id":588508,"date":"2026-04-16T21:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/588508\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:49:08","slug":"chargers-gm-joe-hortiz-shuts-down-quentin-johnston-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/588508\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers GM Joe Hortiz shuts down Quentin Johnston trade rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rhim_kris.png&#038;h=80&#038;w=80&#038;scale=crop.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Kris RhimApr 16, 2026, 03:29 PM ET<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"icon-font-after icon-close-solid-after\" href=\"#\">Close<\/a>Kris Rhim is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Kris covers the Los Angeles Chargers, including coach Jim Harbaugh&#8217;s franchise-altering first season (https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/41068072\/los-angeles-chargers-2024-preview-jim-harbaugh-culture). In Kris&#8217; free time, he lives his NBA dreams at men&#8217;s leagues across Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple Authors<\/p>\n<p>LOS ANGELES &#8212; <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"84caf62b-c753-71ea-a787-44fd224a4294\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/team\/_\/name\/lac\/los-angeles-chargers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chargers<\/a> general manager Joe Hortiz shut down trade rumors surrounding wide receiver <a data-player-guid=\"84bbb266-ee47-3828-9628-a26e48c152c8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4429025\/quentin-johnston\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Quentin Johnston<\/a>, making it clear Thursday that the 2023 first-round pick isn&#8217;t available.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of rumors out there on Twitter,&#8221; Hortiz said. &#8220;And I can tell you this, I have made zero calls about Quentin, and I&#8217;ve had zero calls regarding Quentin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Chargers have until May 1 to pick up Johnston&#8217;s fifth-year option, which is set to be worth $18.1 million, fully guaranteed. Hortiz said the team is still discussing the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Editor&#8217;s Picks<\/p>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<p>Since Hortiz and coach Jim Harbaugh took their respective jobs in 2024, they have always been enamored with Johnston&#8217;s upside. And the opportunities they&#8217;ve given Johnston despite inconsistencies, and the decision to trade wide receiver <a data-player-guid=\"c22ef201-95ad-1740-dd33-3ae06d7e7e68\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/15818\/keenan-allen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keenan Allen<\/a> after Johnston&#8217;s poor rookie season, support that belief.<\/p>\n<p>That faith has paid off. Over the last two years, Johnston has shown some of the promise that made him a top pick.<\/p>\n<p>Johnston led the Chargers in touchdowns for the second season in a row last year with eight and had a career-high 735 yards over 14 games. His best game came in Week 16 against the <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"b0fc8fb7-9dbe-e574-9008-6f0ee7c6b234\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/team\/_\/name\/dal\/dallas-cowboys\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, when he reeled in four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. It was the third 100-yard game of his career and his only 100-yard game last season.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Johnston has been at the center of trade rumors as the Chargers head into next season with a crowded wide receivers room that includes <a data-player-guid=\"ea99dfb4-efbc-32ae-aefe-267c745f722b\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4612826\/ladd-mcconkey\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ladd McConkey<\/a> and last year&#8217;s draft picks <a data-player-guid=\"33a8b56f-7466-3118-bccb-5ebff76f4590\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4686612\/tre-harris\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tre&#8217; Harris<\/a> and <a data-player-guid=\"8230726d-0f30-3675-8476-3d42096d9d43\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4430870\/keandre-lambert-smith\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KeAndre Lambert-Smith<\/a>. For now, it appears he&#8217;ll remain in Los Angeles for at least another season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re really excited about the wide receiver room,&#8221; Hortiz said. &#8220;[Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel] has talked about it. Just development all those guys have made. All starting with [Johnston]. Watching him get better year after year after year.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kris RhimApr 16, 2026, 03:29 PM ET CloseKris Rhim is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Kris&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-588508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}