L.A. Chargers Suffer Devastating Setback With Rashawn Slater’s Injury

Los Angeles Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater (70), seen in action last year, won’t be playing for L.A. this season as a knee injury has put him on the sidelines. (AP Photo/Matt Durisko)

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When Rashawn Slater, the Los Angeles Chargers’ massive left tackle, fell in practice on Thursday the reverberation was felt on and off the field.

Slater, who recently signed a four-year, $114 million contract extension which included $92 million guaranteed, sustained a season-ending knee injury when backpedaling in pass protection to take on a block from linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu.

Slater tore the patella tendon in his left knee. He’ll undergo surgery which derails his season and puts a dent in the Chargers’ salary cap allocation, too.

Only three Chargers count against the cap more than Slater’s hit of $14.8 million: quarterback Justin Herbert ($37.3 million), linebacker Khalil Mack ($26.8 million) and safety Derwin James ($23.8 million).

Slater, a two-time Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro, set the standard for his position with a $28.5 million average annual salary in the deal that ties him to the Chargers through 2029.

But it’s 2025 that everyone is concerned with in the Chargers camp as the key blocker to protect Herbert’s blindside will watch this year’s action in street clothes.

Slater suffered a torn biceps in 2022 and he missed 13 games and had other minor injuries. But nothing as significant as what happened on Thursday.

When Slater exited, right tackle Joe Alt, a former first-round pick like Slater, flipped over to the right side. Alt, who is coming off an outstanding rookie season and was a left tackle at Notre Dame, was replaced by veteran Trey Pipkins III.

It’s hard to overstate Slater’s importance in a run-first, grind-it-out offense like the Chargers’. The team went about rebuilding the interior of the line in the offseason, secure in knowing that it had two stars in Slater and Alt.

That remake included signing free-agent Mekhi Becton to a two-year, $20 million contract and attempting to move disappointing guard Zion Johnson to center and replacing Bradley Bozeman.

But Johnson never took to the new position and is back at left guard with Bozeman at center. The Chargers were disappointed something new-and-improved didn’t develop, but at least they were secure on the edges.

Unfortunately that all changed during a routine blocking drill on a sizzling day in Southern California. Slater, the man expected to keep the heat off Herbert, won’t play again until 2026.