SAN DIEGO -- John Butler, the San Diego Chargers' general manager and an architect of Buffalo's Super Bowl teams of the 1990s, died Friday from lung cancer, the Chargers said. He was 56.

Butler, diagnosed with the disease in July, was the Bills' general manager for eight seasons before taking that job in San Diego in 2001.

He was in Buffalo's front office for all of its record four straight trips to the NFL championship game from 1991-94. The Bills lost all of those Super Bowls.