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Los Angeles Chargers fans are used to suffering during the games themselves, but calamity is striking far earlier than anyone anticipated. Two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater, who recently signed a four-year, $114 million contract extension, suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in practice this week and will miss the entire 2025-26 season. LA head coach Jim Harbaugh will switch top-five draft pick Joe Alt to the blind side in response to the devastating development, but the team needs more offensive line depth.
The Chargers sought to address that issue on Saturday, signing veteran tackle David Sharpe, per KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson. The former Florida Gators talent has bounced around the league since turning pro in 2017, logging snaps for the then-Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans, the then-Washington Football Team, Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers. He has not seen in-game regular season action since 2023, however. The New York Jets released Sharpe from their practice squad last December.
The fourth-rounder will have a golden opportunity to make the Chargers’ NFL roster following the Slater news. Although he has made just six starts in his career, Sharpe could offer some value to this desperate O-Line. He posted an adequate 68.5 pass-blocking grade with the Panthers a couple of years ago. Justin Herbert and company cannot be too fussy right now. They will take all the protection they can get at this point of the summer.
Los Angeles prefers to set the tone with its running back room, which include rookie Omarion Hampton and the recovering Najee Harris, thereby allowing its talented quarterback to pick his spots downfield with the Ladd McConkey-led wide receiver group. Slater’s absence could dramatically alter that plan. The Chargers may just have to enter survival mode now.
Perhaps that is an exaggeration. Alt showed promise as a rookie and has the strength to effectively occupy the left side in 2025, but the potential domino effect of having to slide guys over and bring new players in obviously warrants acknowledgement. Harbaugh’s squad must depend heavily on grit and work ethic for the next several months.
With that in mind, David Sharpe seems like a decent addition to the team. He has toiled away to earn on-field reps in the NFL. The 29-year-old understands the importance of perseverance, and that is something the entire franchise and fan base must continue to embody.
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