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What Chargers GM Joe Hortiz & HC Jim Harbaugh Said About Daiyan Henley Trade Situation

Nov 12, 2026 at 04:00 PM

Jr. Writer

A day after the Daiyan Henley trade from the Chargers to the Broncos was not finalized, Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz and Head Coach Jim Harbaugh gave their insight on the situation.

Talking at the podium to reporters, Harbaugh gave his assessment of the situation following conversations with Hortiz.

"Here's what I know from talking to Joe," Harbaugh said. "The Broncos based a pass/fail on a medical grade based on whether we would take less compensation. And we wouldn't, and we didn't."

He added: "In my opinion, it's one of those loopholes the league should really look into because it sets a bad precedent and continues to set a bad precedent."

Hortiz echoed Harbaugh's sentiment on the events while speaking to reporters on Thursday.

He added that the trade was one that was a tough one to make to begin with, and Denver wanting to change the terms after the physical led to what transpired.

"First, it was a difficult trade for the organization to make initially," Hortiz said. "A lot of thought went into it, we knew the impact of Daiyan and how much we loved Daiyan. It was a hard decision to make just to trade him. We felt like to make that trade, we had to have compensation that was truly worth it.

"We came to terms on it, made an agreement, they called us up and were asking us to amend the trade based on the physical," Hortiz continued. "In our minds, a physical is a binary thing. It's a pass or a fail. They wanted the player still, they wanted to change the terms, they used it. We weren't going to do it."

He later added: "They tried to adjust a lot of things. There were a number of different suggestions made and as I was hearing them out, I was explaining to them none of those would make sense to us. Went back to, 'We only considered this deal for this player because what we believe he is and his worth.' They were trying to change it, and we weren't interested in it."

The original terms of the trade that were announced included Henley to the Broncos for their 2027 fourth-round pick and 2028 fifth-round pick.

Harbaugh explained on Thursday that it's a situation that he believes should be assessed moving forward.

"It's a medical grade, it's a pass/fail for a medical grade. They told us they weren't going to pass him if it was a fourth and a fifth, which was agreed upon," Harbaugh said. "They would not pass him for that. They would pass him for a fourth and a 'fill in the blank.'"

He later added: "There's a loophole there that gives them an opportunity to do that. That's something that sets a bad precedent and should be looked into. Medical grades should be based on pass/fail, what the medical grade is. Not being used by an organization to get less compensation for a trade that was agreed upon."

Hortiz concurred with the Chargers Head Coach.

"I 100 percent agree with him. I've had other GMs call me about it today," Hortiz said. "It's a really unfortunate thing. It gives you an opportunity to make a trade at the deadline and then try to change the terms that you already agreed upon with no recourse. You create a leverage standpoint.

"We've done a number of trades over the years that I've been here and something like this hasn't occurred," Hortiz continued. "It's a loophole that the league allows and should certainly look into closing it."

He later added: "It's unique in the sense that they were willing to trade for him if we slid the scale in compensation. Which again, going back to the loophole or precedent it sets, it doesn't make a good precedent to send."

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The Los Angeles Chargers host the annual Boots & Bolts program with Military Veterans on Friday, November 6, 2026 at The Bolt in El Segundo, CA.