Chargers Quietly Avoided a Major Front Office Loss During NFL Schedule Chaos

Some big news for the Chargers in the front office.

Joe Hortiz and Chad Alexander | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers are going to skate by at least one more year when it comes to the front office. 

While the rest of the NFL focused on the schedule release and the fallout from those things for the 2026 season, the Chargers were under threat of losing a key piece. 

Thank the Minnesota Vikings, a team that was interested in interviewing Chargers assistant general manager Chad Alexander for their vacant general manager spot.

But quietly in the background, things went the other direction.

Chargers news on the general manager front is great

Chad Alexander | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Vikings going on a general manager search wasn’t a big secret. Some of the candidates were. 

But according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Alexander “respectfully declined the Vikings’ GM interview request, and withdrew his name from the search.” 

Let Breer tell it, Alexander made it a point that he wanted to see the 2026 roster-building process with Hortiz through. 

This isn’t new with Alexander either, as he’s had other chances to interview with other franchises since arriving in Los Angeles. 

"I'm working with Joe day-in, day-out trying to keep everything moving in the right direction. The goal is to show up every day as the same guy, be consistent and keep working to make the team better," Alexander told the team’s website back in December of 2024. "I'm trying to be the best assistant general manager I can be.

From an outsider perspective, one can see why a possible general manager candidate doesn’t want to join the Vikings. Any franchise cutting a general manager loose at this stage of the offseason process mid-build doesn’t inspire confidence when it comes to stability. Letting go of anyone involved with the draft process, let alone a general manager, near the start of February, indeed sort of feels like a red flag. 

And from a Chargers perspective, retaining Alexander is a huge win. He started with the Baltimore Ravens back in 2019 and worked with Hortiz, eventually linking up with him as assistant general manager with the Chargers alongside Jim Harbaugh’s arrival in 2024. 

Given how things have gone since 2024, Alexander is going to remain near the top of wishlists for other teams. But given how patient he and Hortiz have been with their respective climbs up the ladder, the Chargers won’t be seriously under threat here unless something major and stable opens up.

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