The San Diego Chargers are keeping their offensive line together after Philip Rivers' sack yards dropped from a league-high 311 in 2012 to 150 last season.
The team announced the re-signing of left guard Chad Rinehart on Monday. The new contract will pay Rinehart $6 million over two years, with $2 million in guarantees, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reported.
Formerly a third-round draft bust with the Washington Redskins, Rinehart has turned his career around and solidified the interior of the Chargers' offensive line.
He not only factored into Rivers' improved pass protection, but also helped pave the way for Ryan Mathews' career-high 1,255 rushing yards in 2013.
With Rinehart locked up, it will be interesting to see if the Chargers deem right guard Jeromey Clary expendable now that his salary cap number exceeds $6 million. They might wait until after the 2014 NFL Draft to make a move in that direction.
Either way, general manager Tom Telesco has done a fine job of revamping an offensive line situation that widely was viewed as the league's most dire at this time a year ago.
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