More likely the street or acting boss, like Bellomo was back in the early 1990's. They took care of the day to day operations while the big decisions were deferred to the real boss. It's pretty clear from wiretaps and informants that Chin was the real boss. Salerno himself was recorded saying he would leave the decision up to the boss when discussing an issue with Matty the Horse. Then you had Fish Cafaro's testimony. It was also clear that Salerno was acting in the boss capacity when he attended the famous Commission meeting photographed by the FBI plus all of the meetings he had with mobsters from out of town.