Matt Slauson did not expect, here in May, to be deciding for which team he’ll play in 2016.

The Chargers hope to help him sort it out.

The veteran center-guard arrived in San Diego for a visit with the team Wednesday, sources said. Slauson became a free agent Monday when the Bears released him after drafting a guard, Cody Whitehair, in the second round Friday. Slauson is expected to visit the Bills this week as well, deciding which of the two — presuming no outside favorite emerges — offers the best opportunity to apply his experience of 85 starts since 2010.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, no deal was considered imminent between the two sides. The visit was ongoing, expected to continue over dinner.


If Slauson is looking for opportunity, he’ll find it here.

The Chargers are coming off a season in which they trotted out 24 unique combinations on the offensive line. While that level of injury-induced instability is unlikely to recur, the experience to some degree is a running theme. Six different players saw time at left guard, three at center and five at right guard in 2015. A year earlier, the team became the first since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to start five different centers in the same season.

Slauson, 30, is an option at all three interior positions.

That includes at center where, today, rookie third-round pick Max Tuerk out of the USC is the favorite to start. He is coming off October reconstructive knee surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament tear. Slauson’s signing would fortify the position and make guard a more primary position for Chris Watt, the Chargers’ 2014 third-round pick who was limited to two starts at center in 2015 because of injuries.


Center Trevor Robinson also is on the depth chart.

His future on the roster is murky, given his $2.3 million salary.

Either way, be it the Chargers or Bills, Slauson will have familiarity where he goes. The Chargers have a similar offense conceptually to the Bears, and San Diego’s new assistant offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo was Slauson’s offensive line coach in 2010 with the Jets. Likewise, Slauson played under now-Bills head coach Rex Ryan in New York and now-Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer in Chicago.

Slauson is listed at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds.


He entered the league in 2009 as a sixth-round draft pick from Nebraska. He spent the past three years in Chicago after four in New York.

Scouts let go

The Chargers restructured part of their scouting department this week.

At least one long-time scout in each the college and pro divisions were among those known to be let go, sources said. When such moves are made, they typically transpire after a draft; the three-day event marks the end of the year on the scouting calendar.