Rashawn

Slater

This is terrible news. Slater is one of the league’s best left tackles. He and OT Joe Alt formed, perhaps, the NFL’s premier tackle tandems. Slater now has a long road to recovery ahead, and will hopefully be fully healthy in time for the 2026 season. With Slater out, Alt will shift from right tackle to left while swing tackle Trey Pipkins III starts on the right. Slater will undergo surgery to repair the tendon and be placed on injured reserve.

Slater dealt with a topical right foot issue in July, but this injury is unrelated. If Slater misses an extended period of time, it will likely have a ripple effect across the whole offense. Slater and RT Joe Alt form one of the NFL’s best offensive tackle duos. Fortunately, Alt had been taking snaps on the left side while Slater was previously sidelined. OT Trey Pipkins III can serve as a capable fill-in on the right side. Slater signed a four-year, $114 million extension less than two weeks ago.

Slater returned to practice for the first time since signing his four-year, $114 million extension. The injury that kept him sidelined, per Slater, was a blister on his right foot that needed to be “carved out.” Sounds great. The newly-paid tackle did individual drills on Monday but is expected to do more on Tuesday. It doesn’t sound like there’s much to be concerned about here, as Slater should be a full-go shortly.

Slater will get $92 million in guaranteed money on his deal and now becomes the highest-paid offensive lineman in league history. Slater was drafted No. 13 overall by the Chargers in 2021 and has started all 51 games he’s appeared in since being drafted. He suffered a torn biceps in 2022, which limited him to just three games, but he played in 32 of the possible 34 regular-season games over the next two years. Slater earned a PFF offensive grade of 91.1 last season and allowed just 22 pressures and three sacks on 547 pass-blocking snaps. He’s been absent from training camp due to a “minor” injury, but we would expect this extension to have a near-immediate impact on his availability.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh said Slater has a “minor” injury as he sits out his third straight practice of Chargers training camp. The franchise left tackle worked off to the side at the start of practice, according to the Athletic’s Daniel Popper. More notably, Slater is in the final year of his rookie contract and awaiting an extension from the Chargers. He reported to minicamp, but is now nearing holdout territory, despite Harbaugh’s diagnosis of an injury. Expect the Slater and the Chargers to continue extension talks throughout camp.

Things seem to be going well for both sides, though one would like to see pen put to paper sooner rather than later. Slater fully participated at mandatory minicamp after missing organized team activities this spring.

Though he missed OTAs, Slater was a full participant in the Chargers’ first practice of mandatory minicamp. The 26-year-old franchise left tackle is looking for a contract extension as he enters his fifth season. He is on his fifth-year option, worth $19.05 million on the season. The Chargers will extend Justin Herbert’s blindside protector soon, and Slater should join the ranks of the league’s highest-paid tackles.

Slater is awaiting a contract extension as he enters his fifth season with the Chargers. The former No. 13 overall pick has made two Pro Bowls while starting all of his 51 games played over four years. He is the Chargers’ starting left tackle and is due $19.05 million this season on his fifth-year option. A lucrative extension would get Slater paid for the long haul while also reducing his potential cap hit for 2025. The Chargers have been in negotiations with Slater, and while we have not reached holdout territory, this is an extension situation to monitor for Justin Herbert’s blindside.

“Rashawn is a great player, and he helps us win football games, so I’d love Rashan to be around for a long time,” Hortiz said while sticking to the fact sheet. Slater is entering the fifth-year option season of his contract and, while we haven’t posted about it, his extension has been a primary point of interest for Chargers beat writers for some time now. Getting Slater to reduce his $19.04 million cap figure before free agency could help Los Angeles land another player or two, perhaps incentivizing them to sign this sooner rather than later. Slater had a 90.9 PFF blocking grade last year, which was second amongst all tackles.

Slater was not on the Chargers’ injury report but reportedly felt discomfort in his knee before the game. With only slight variations in their playoff seeding to play for, LA did the responsible thing and gave him the day off.