Austin Ekeler’s offseason has featured a contract struggle with the Los Angeles Chargers.
He still has one more year left on his deal, but the future is unknown beyond that.
While Ekeler’s trade request was made public during the offseason, his latest comments indicate that he’ll be sticking around, at least for this season.
According to Ekeler, via the Chargers’ website and Nick Shook, “I understand that I have one more obligation here.”
Austin Ekeler on where he’s at with Chargers: “I understand that I have one more obligation here.” https://t.co/0L1bJDkqCa pic.twitter.com/n1CNyTZ4EF
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) June 15, 2023
Ekeler also said, “I wanted to go poke around and see if there was any value.”
Unfortunately for Ekeler, teams across the league have started a trend, going away from signing running backs to massive extensions.
While players like Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, and Ekeler are impactful to their respective rosters, the contracts tend to say otherwise.
Cook and Elliott were released by their respective teams, and are now in search of employment elsewhere.
Unlike Cook and Elliott, Ekeler still has a position with the Chargers, as his contractual obligation indicates.
It appears that Ekeler isn’t pleased about his current contract.
If he has an injury during the 2023 season, it could prove to be catastrophic.
He isn’t tied to the Chargers past 2023, and if he does get injured, the team could move on to a younger option in 2024.
The NFL’s landscape has shifted, and it does not currently favor running backs’ contracts as a whole.
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