The Chargers announced on Monday that they officially signed second-round OL Jake Slaughter to his four year rookie deal. This comes after Los Angeles locked down most of their day three selections at rookie minicamp.
WR Brenen Thompson and EDGE Akheem Mesidor are now the only unsigned members of their draft class. Compared to last offseason, the Chargers have made fairly quick progress on signing their draft selections.
Here's why the Chargers signing Jake Slaughter earlier is a big deal
Last year, second-round draft selections around the league fought for more guarantees on their rookie deals. This became a particular sticking point for the Chargers and WR Tre' Harris. Harris waited to sign until July 17th after holding out of training camp. Eventually, the Ole Miss product got a little over 71% of his rookie deal guaranteed.
Some wondered if the complicated nature of second-round pick negotiations would be a problem once again for the league. That's a big reason as to why getting Slaughter under contract now is huge for both him and the team.
Via KPRC2's Aaron Wilson, Slaughter got 72.2% of his rookie deal guaranteed. That's 0.85% more guaranteed than Harris' deal despite the Florida prospect going much later in the second round. It's a fairly big win for the players in terms of getting a bump in their year-to-year guarantees.
With the second-round selection negotiation out of the way, the path should be cleared towards Los Angeles signing Mesidor fairly soon. First-round picks have built in dollar valuations into their pick slots in addition to their deals being fully guaranteed. Outside of the very, very rare Joey Bosa scenario from a decade ago, there should be no trouble for the Chargers in getting a deal done here. Thompson will also likely join his other day three picks and sign the dotted line.
Slaughter's focus can now entirely remain on the field as he trains at both center and guard for the Chargers. It will be paramount that Slaughter is capable of starting at left guard this year. Time will tell, but LA's front office and coaching staff still seem confident in their vision of the Florida center playing guard. Last week, Slaughter called the cross training a "fun challenge" at rookie minicamp. "My thing is I'm going to go out and compete and do everything I can to be the best version of myself," Slaughter said.
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