nfl

Chargers RB Austin Ekeler believes ‘I’m so underpaid right now’

Chargers RB Austin Ekeler breaks silence after requesting a trade.

It has been a week since the Los Angeles Chargers granted running back Austin Ekeler permission to seek a trade.

It is all quiet on that front, but on Monday, Ekeler jumped on Greenlight podcast, which is hosted by former NFL player Chris Long. He kept it real.

“I’m so underpaid right now as far as my contract and what I contribute to the team,” Ekeler said. “I am relentlessly pursuing this. I want to get something long-term done. I want a team that wants me long-term because look, I’m at the peak of my game.”

Ekeler is on the final year of his four-year $24.5 million contract he signed and is set to make $6.5 million this season.

He believes his work ethic speaks for itself.

“I’m getting half my value of what I could be getting,” Ekeler said. “So it’s like, I’m relentlessly pursuing someone who wants me for the long term.”

The Chargers and Ekeler tried to talk about a new contract, but when the talks didn’t go anywhere, he requested the trade. Now the number isn’t known of what the running back is seeking, but if he said “half of my value,” that means at $6.5 million, he could be looking at almost $12 million.

Unfortunately for Ekeler, that is where the market is headed. According to Spotrac, three of the biggest free agents at his position were Miles Sanders, David Montgomery, and Jamaal Williams. All three signed for less than what Ekeler makes in his current contract.

“It is brutal out here, It’s terrible as far as the running back market and how we’re being treated,” Ekeler said. “And look, I get it. I 100 percent get it. There is more risk within paying running backs.”

Now all three of those running backs don’t have the stats that Ekeler does, not even close. Ekeler led the NFL the last two years in touchdowns, with 20 in 2021 and 18 in 2022. He also had over 1,600 combined yards in the previous two seasons.

He has been a workhorse for the offense but is about to be 28 years old. The wear and tear could get to him. The shelf life of a running back isn’t what it used to be in the LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, or Chris Johnson era.

It will be interesting to see what the Chargers and Ekeler’s camp will do moving forward. Currently, no trade has happened, so it remains to be seen if someone will pay Ekeler the money he feels he deserves.

“We’re kind of in a spot where I’ve been outplaying my contract and we might have an opportunity to go seek out other options that can bring me up,” Ekeler said. “It was put out there that the Chargers kind of put a block on the talks of an extension so I was like, ‘OK, if you don’t see me in your long-term future right now then give us an opportunity to go talk and see if someone else might.’”

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