The World Cup is coming soon. And it’s quickly becoming a pain in the posterior for the 13 teams playing in stadiums that will be commandeered for intercontinental soccer.
Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal recently reviewed some of the practical impacts of FIFA bigfooting the various venues where fútbol will be played. This week, for example, the Jets and Giants will move their annual draft parties away from MetLife Stadium to Manhattan.
In all, 13 teams are impacted by the World Cup: the Cowboys, Jets, Giants, Falcons, Chiefs, Texans, 49ers, Chargers, Rams, Eagles, Seahawks, Patriots, and Dolphins.
For the teams that have employees at the stadiums hosting World Cup games, many will be moved. Those who are staying put will be subject to FIFA credentialing to get into their workplaces. And the Giants will start training camp in West Virginia, since MetLife Stadium will be hosting the final match on July 19 on a grass field that will need to be removed and replaced with one of the worst artificial surfaces in the entire league.
That last part still has to be the most galling for NFL players. Owners with stadiums that don’t have grass have bent over backwards to do whatever had to be done to placate FIFA. Their regular employees, however, will still be stuck with a lesser (and far cheaper) playing surface.
The various sacrifices involuntarily made by the players and other team employees should prompt FIFA to give them all a phony, made-up award. Especially since FIFA has already done that, for far less.
Chargers offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt are working their way back from injuries that prematurely ended their season in 2025. General Manager Joe Hortiz offered an encouraging update on Thursday.
“I think they’re ahead of schedule,” Hortiz said, via Eric Smith of the team website. “Both are tracking well, and [I’m] looking forward to seeing them out there.”
The Chargers’ offseason program begins Monday and Hortiz said both could participate, though the team will be deliberate in their return to football activities.
“Yeah, I think they’ll be involved in some capacity,” Hortiz said. “Coming back from injuries, you don’t rush anything, there’s no need to rush it. Let them come back, be healthy, the target is for the start of training camp. But I think they’ll be out there getting some work.”
Alt earned Pro Bowl honors despite playing in only six games due to an ankle injury that ended his second season.
Slater ruptured a patellar tendon in training camp.
“My expectations, where [Slater] is, where he’s been, where he was in the fall, it’s a different recovery time. No rush, but everything indicator is he’s ahead of schedule and doing really well,” Hortiz said. “We’re not going to rush it. We’re going to take our time. There’s a timeline to recover from that. Go through the steps, but he looks great.
“I look out the window, and he’s out there working, moving around. I feel good about it.”
A rash of injuries in the offensive line in 2025 could lead the Chargers to add another offensive tackle in the draft.
“Now, if last year proved anything it’s that you can never have too many tackles, just like the year before proved you can’t have too many corners. You can never have too many of anything,” Hortiz said. “It doesn’t change our approach. If there’s a tackle in the draft that we like and he’s sitting there when we’re picking, and he’s the top guy, we’ll take him.”
The Chargers still are deciding on the fifth-year option for Quentin Johnston, but General Manager Joe Hortiz insists the wide receiver will be part of the team in 2026.
During his pre-draft news conference on Thursday, Hortiz attempted to squash trade rumors involving Johnston.
“There’s a lot of rumors out there on Twitter,” Hortiz said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN, “and I can tell you this: I have made zero calls about Quentin, and I’ve had zero calls regarding Quentin.”
The Chargers made Johnston a first-round pick in 2023, and his penchant for drops followed him to the NFL. However, he led the team in touchdowns the past two seasons and posted a career-high 735 receiving yards in 14 games last season.
The Chargers have a deep wide receivers room with Ladd McConkey, Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but Hortiz said the team has a place for Johnston.
“We’re really excited about the wide receiver room,” Hortiz said. "[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.”
The Chargers have until May 1 to pick up Johnston’s fifth-year option, which is set to be worth $18.1 million, fully guaranteed, for 2027.
Safety Derwin James is heading into his ninth NFL season and the Chargers hope it isn’t his final one in their uniform.
James is entering the last year of the four-year extension he signed with the team in 2022 and General Manager Joe Hortiz said at a Thursday press conference that the team plans to step up talks on a new deal after the draft. James has a base salary of $14.5 million for the coming season.
James was a second-team All-Pro after recording 94 tackles, three interceptions, two sacks, and a forced fumble in 2025.
Hortiz said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN.com, that the team also plans to engage edge rusher Tuli Tuipulato in extension talks. The 2023 second-round pick had a career-high 13 sacks last season after posting 13 sacks over his first two seasons.
The Chargers haven’t made a call on what to do about their option on wide receiver Quentin Johnston’s contract for 2027, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be trading him before the deadline to make that decision.
General Manager Joe Hortiz told reporters at a Thursday press conference that the team is still considering whether to exercise Johnston’s option. The wideout would be guaranteed $18 million under the terms of the option.
Hortiz also said, via multiple reporters, that the team has received “zero calls” from teams looking to trade for Johnston and that they’ve made zero in an effort to move the 2023 first-round pick.
Johnston had 51 catches for 735 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He has 144 catches for 1,877 yards and 18 touchdowns since entering the league.
