The offensive line focus for the LA Chargers this season has largely been on Joe Alt's improvement. The Chargers' new left tackle has kicked it up a notch in his sophomore season. Other members of the offensive line have also been better than expected, although the Chargers are currently fighting through some injuries on the right side.
Rashawn Slater hasn't been in the headlines as he underwent season-ending torn patellar tendon repair surgery for an injury suffered during training camp.
Prior to the injury, the Chargers made Slater the highest-paid tackle in the league. He will be back next season and is of course, a part of the team's future plans.
The Athletic's Michael Silver wrote about an interesting plan the Chargers could have in store for Rashawn Slater in 2026.
Michael Silver of The Athletic attended the Chargers-Broncos game and covered it in detail. In his analysis, Silver also dropped a key nugget about Slater that could become a story going forward.
Writing about Slater's injury, Silver wrote this:
"The Chargers responded by moving second-year tackle Joe Alt, the fifth pick of the 2024 draft, to the left side as Herbert's blindside protector, and they seem poised to keep thriving up front. In theory, it could be a permanent switch: Some Chargers decision-makers believe there's a scenario in which Slater, 26, could be shifted to center, with a viable chance to excel at a new position."
On one hand, the Chargers do like their experiments at center. The Chargers cross-trained LG Zion Johnson at center for a large portion of this past offseason as he competed with Bradley Bozeman for the starting job. In that sense, playing around with the offensive line configurations in the offseason wouldn't be new territory for them.
However, the Chargers made Slater the highest paid tackle in the league. Experimenting with him at center or guard should only be something that's an option if there isn't a future for him at tackle due to injury.
Especially with right tackle Trey Pipkins becoming a free agent next offseason, there's no reason in my mind Slater wouldn't be projected to slot in there even if the team were to keep Alt at left tackle.
Perhaps the Chargers simply won't find the options they're looking for to plug the remainder of their interior offensive line in 2025 and will end up experimenting with Slater.
But for the time being, that seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Keeping the Pro Bowl tackle at... tackle should be the teams' priority unless it becomes an absolute necessity to kick him inside.