{"id":122411,"date":"2025-06-11T22:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T22:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/122411\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T22:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T22:03:10","slug":"rashawn-slater-returns-to-chargers-minicamp-amid-contract-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/122411\/","title":{"rendered":"Rashawn Slater returns to Chargers minicamp amid contract talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

He wasn\u2019t under the watchful eye of Chargers<\/a> executive director of player performance Ben Herbert this offseason. He didn\u2019t train in the team\u2019s El Segundo practice facility. But it doesn\u2019t mean Rashawn Slater<\/a> wasn\u2019t working this offseason. <\/p>\n

Making his first offseason appearance at the Chargers\u2019 facility this week as the team started mandatory minicamp, Slater immediately passed the team\u2019s conditioning test. In fact, Jim Harbaugh said, Slater reported the test was too easy. <\/p>\n

\u201cToo easy,\u201d the coach said, \u201cbecause he trains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater\u2019s return highlighted the Chargers\u2019 perfect attendance on the first day of three-day minicamp Tuesday. The star left tackle had missed all of voluntary organized team activities while in discussions for a contract extension. <\/p>\n

Since the Chargers took him 13th overall in 2021, Slater has earned two Pro Bowl appearances and was named second-team All-Pro in 2021. After the team picked up his fifth-year option last season, Slater reestablished himself as one of the top tackles in the league with the second-best overall grade and third-best pass blocking grade among his position, according to Pro Football Focus. In the final year of his contract, he is due to make about $19 million in 2025, which ranks sixth-most among left tackles, according to overthecap.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking on behalf of everyone in the organization, fully support Rashawn and what he\u2019s trying to accomplish for himself and his family,\u201d said Harbaugh, who added he chooses not to worry about discussions as they continue between general manager Joe Hortiz and Slater\u2019s representatives. \u201cWe\u2019re all in support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater has maintained his standing in the organization because of his respected work ethic that earned him the distinction of being a team captain last season. Harbaugh counts Slater as part of an exclusive club made up of the team\u2019s nine hardest workers. The coach\u2019s so-called \u201cElite Nine\u201d also includes Derwin James Jr., Khalil Mack, Joe Alt, Ladd McConkey, Daiyan Henley, Tuli Tuipulotu, Zion Johnson and Justin Herbert.<\/p>\n

Now in his second year at the helm, Harbaugh expects confidence and polish during training camp from experienced players. The coach has already found a standard bearer in Herbert, who is still searching for his first NFL playoff win after having four passes intercepted in last year\u2019s wild-card loss to Houston,<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t change a thing about Justin Herbert,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cI think the important thing is everyone else, especially the guys he\u2019s counting on, on the offensive side of the ball, just look at his example, how he goes about his business, how he trains and they attempt to get to that level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quarterback\u2019s training was so relentless that he missed his planned media availability Tuesday. He was lifting instead. <\/p>\n

J.K. Dobbins signs with Denver Broncos<\/p>\n

Former Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins signed a reported one-year, $5.25-million deal with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday after the Chargers placed a rarely used unrestricted free-agent tender on the 25-year-old. The Chargers would have had Dobbins\u2019 exclusive negotiating rights if he hadn\u2019t signed with another team by July 23.<\/p>\n

Dobbins is coming off a career-high 905 yards rushing last season when he finished as the runner-up for the NFL\u2019s comeback player of the year in his first full season since 2020. But his return to the Chargers has been in question since the team picked running back Omarion Hampton 22nd overall in April\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

Hampton, who rushed for 1,660 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior at North Carolina, has joined with free-agent addition Najee Harris to form an impressive one-two backfield punch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like Omarion, how he\u2019s hitting the hole,\u201d James Jr., said when asked which rookies are standing out to him. \u201cCan\u2019t really tell right now, but I like Omarion a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hampton leads a rookie class that Harbaugh lauded as being \u201cas good of a rookie class as I\u2019ve ever been around in terms of being about their business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing where they\u2019re supposed to be when they\u2019re supposed to be there,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cWe have to kick them out of the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even the staff\u2019s best attempts sometimes aren\u2019t enough. Harbaugh said he often notices the rookies looking for safe harbor in other rooms.<\/p>\n

Etc.<\/p>\n

The Chargers brought in receiver Willie Snead IV for a veteran tryout. The 32-year-old last played in an NFL game in 2023, appearing in four games for the San Francisco 49ers, catching two passes for 14 yards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He wasn\u2019t under the watchful eye of Chargers executive director of player performance Ben Herbert this offseason. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,29643,1885,10728,29645,7,1346,601,1012,1159,1014,262,2444,2443,6,8024,29644,2583,23749,185,8896,1285],"class_list":{"0":"post-122411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-chargers-facility","10":"tag-coach","11":"tag-derwin-james-jr","12":"tag-fifth-year-option-last-season","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-hampton","15":"tag-j-k-dobbins","16":"tag-jim-harbaugh","17":"tag-justin-herbert","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-losangeleschargers","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-organization","24":"tag-rashawn-slater-return","25":"tag-rookie","26":"tag-slater","27":"tag-team","28":"tag-training-camp","29":"tag-yard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114666996166220734","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}