Chargers Lose $30 Million Center Tyler Biadasz to Knee Injury in Joint Practice

The Los Angeles Chargers cannot have nice things. Every time they try to build a functional offensive line to keep Justin Herbert upright, the football gods demand a sacrifice.

A $30 million contract usually buys you at least a few weeks of regular-season football. For the Chargers, it bought them exactly one joint practice. According to Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, center Tyler Biadasz is out indefinitely after suffering ACL damage and other left knee injuries during Tuesday’s scrimmage against the San Francisco 49ers.

"Adam Schefter reported Biadasz is out indefinitely after suffering damage to his ACL and additional injuries to his left knee."

The Chargers literally just handed Biadasz a three-year, $30 million deal this offseason to fix their interior blocking. He was supposed to be the anchor. Instead, 49ers defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez fell into his leg during an 11-on-11 drill, and Biadasz left the field on a cart.

If this script feels lazy, it is. Just over a year ago, star left tackle Rashawn Slater was carted off the practice field with a season-ending left knee injury. The Chargers' offensive line is basically a haunted house where the jump scares are just MRI machines.

Losing your marquee free-agent center in August is the kind of disaster that shifts preseason win totals and makes anyone holding a Chargers futures ticket instantly sick. Herbert is already dealing with enough pressure without having to worry about a rookie snapping him the ball.

That rookie is second-round pick Jake Slaughter. He was drafted out of Florida to compete at left guard, but now he is being shoved directly into the starting center role. Going from a guy who started 31 games over the last two seasons for the Washington Commanders to a rookie learning on the fly is a massive downgrade for a team pretending to have Super Bowl aspirations.

Biadasz is meeting with more doctors to figure out the exact damage, but "ACL damage" and "indefinitely" are words that usually mean we will see you next year. The Chargers host the 49ers this Friday for a preseason game, but the only thing that actually matters now is whether Jim Harbaugh can scheme around a massive hole in the middle of his offense before Week 1.