Pro Football Rumors
As he had done at his other career stops, Jim Harbaugh orchestrated a turnaround season in his Chargers debut. The Bolts returned to the playoffs and transformed their defense. While a more run-focused attack minimized Justin Herbert, the star quarterback operated efficiently despite limited weaponry. The team still has questions to answer in the pass-catching department, but a more significant running back retooling effort commenced this offseason.
The Chargers made a host of affordable free agency moves, through retention and outside acquisitions, and budgeted for a record-setting extension. They will operate in a historically loaded division for coaching achievement, with Harbaugh suddenly the only AFC West leader without a Super Bowl title. Last season established the Chargers as a rejuvenated operation; how will they take the next step?
Although Slater was extension-eligible in 2024, the Harbaugh-Joe Hortiz regime made the former Tom Telesco first-rounder wait. While the Bolts received an additional year of rookie-contract control on the 2021 first-rounder, his price naturally rose this offseason. Slater’s resume does not match those of Tristan Wirfs or Penei Sewell, but he is now the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman. Waiting a year brought that to fruition, and Slater’s benchmarks compare favorably to the other top left tackle contracts.
In addition to his record-setting $28.5MM AAV, Slater commanded the second-highest guarantee at signing (behind only Andrew Thomas). Thomas needed to give the Giants five years of control to get his $67MM at-signing guarantee. Slater’s $92MM in total guarantees beat Wirfs’ previous highwater mark ($88.24MM).
Slater, 26, received the top one- and two-year cash flows for any O-lineman. The Chargers also gave Slater a rolling guarantee structure, which will lock in his 2027 and ’28 base salaries one year early. This provides considerable protection for a player who had made a calculated gamble before, having joined Sewell and Micah Parsons in opting out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 cloud. Slater skipped this year’s Bolts OTAs but had a deal in place before training camp.
The Chargers had seen their LT situation become unstable in between King Dunlap‘s final season (2016) and Slater’s debut, but the Northwestern product gave the team an upper-crust blindside protector for Herbert. Slater is a two-time Pro Bowler who bounced back from a three-game 2022 to play in 32 regular-season games from 2023-24. Pro Football Focus rated Slater second among all tackles last season and has never graded him outside the top 20 in a campaign. The Chargers’ second-year regime is buying in, and they now have him signed through 2029.
The Dupree commitment is obviously modest by comparison, but the move keeps the former first-rounder as a quality No. 3 edge rusher. Although the Chargers do look weaker here on paper due to the Joey Bosa release, Dupree backing up Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu presents a workable situation....
