It was in 1990 that Tribe Called Quest told us “I left my wallet in El Segundo.” 35 years later, something else was left behind in El Segundo, hope and optimism related to the Los Angeles Chargers offense for the 2025 season. Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, and a tad melodramatic, but losing your Pro Bowl starting left tackle for the season is nothing short of catastrophic. At “The Bolt,” the Chargers’ practice facility in El Segundo, CA today, Rashawn Slater suffered a torn patellar tendon.
The Northwestern alum will now undergo surgery to repair the tendon, and thus be placed on injured reserve.
The L.A. Chargers are considered by many a potential dark horse to win Super Bowl LX, which will be held a few hours up the PCH at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California
If you look at the canadian betting apps, then you’ll see that the Chargers have the 11th best odds to win the Super Bowl. Many leading sports books list their odds at +280, but that was well before the Rashawn Slater injury news hit. Expect the lines to shift a bit now that L.A. has lost their offensive anchor.
The former Wildcat had recently signed a four year, $113,000,000 contract extension that made him the highest paid offensive lineman, by average annual salary, in the National Football League. The two time Pro Bowler has absolutely lived up to the hype (and then some) that came with the Chargers drafting him 13th overall out of Northwestern in 2021.
With the Bolts drafting Joe Alt out of Notre Dame this April, with the 5th overall pick, they had been set up with potentially two of the most elite bookend tackles in the league.
Now we’ll have to wait until 2026, at the very least, to see how the Chargers starting tackle pairing stacks up against the rest of the league. Alt will now shift over to the opposite side, and yes, now a rookie is entrusted with protecting quarterback Justin Herbert’s blind side.
Trey Pipkins will now take over at right tackle, but this offense has a ton of issues to contend with.
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman had issues aplenty before Rashawn Slater went down. The wide receiver position group certainly instills a sense of doubt within much of the team’s fanbase, and with good reason.
However, there is optimism that rookie Tre Harris will help step up and fill the void.
And at least (we’re really reaching here to try and find the silver lining) this is happening now, in the preseason, with lots of time to try and figure things out.
Adjusting to something disastrous like this in midseason is always much more difficult.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter