Los Angeles Chargers will soon start contract talks with Justin Herbert to hand him an extension probably worth near 50 million dollars per year. However, quarterbacks have total leverage in those situations. That’s something Austin Ekeler hasn’t been able to exploit.
There are multiple franchise quarterbacks in the NFL, although the AFC has most of them. In order to compete with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, or Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, you need a top player. The Chargers are one of those lucky organizations that have their guy at the most important position in Herbert.
Ever since he took over as a starter, they knew he was destined to a big contract. He has had an ally all this time in RB Ekeler that didn’t show the health issues their wide receivers had. But that has not been enough for the organization to give him a raise.
Chargers’ Austin Ekeler shares update on his trade request
Ekeler has been without a doubt the main offensive weapon in the team. The constant injuries to Keenan Allen and Mike Williams put even more weight on the running back. Although that hasn’t hampered his production, it actually made it more remarkable since he finished fifth in the league with 107 receptions behind only Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Stefon Diggs.
The running back has one yearleft in his current deal. He is scheduled to make 6.25 million in 2023, so he requested a trade in March when Los Angeles refused to give him a raise. Being a 27-year-old RB doesn’t help, but he still felt disrespected. Now he shared an update on his status in an interview with Fantasy Dirt on SiriusXM Radio.
“For me it really doesn’t come down to the logo. It comes down to the commitment of having me in a long-term plan. I kind of got punched in the face when the Chargers basically said ‘hey, we don’t want to talk about extensions anymore’. This is the first time in my career with them that I felt disrespected by my own organization. It sucks. I want to be a Charger. We don’t really have insight of what they’re thinking. They’re just like, ‘nah, we don’t want to talk anymore’”.
It’s obviously not the best context for him with the draft coming in a few weeks, though teams that miss out on a prospect could look for the veteran playmaker. “We’ll see what happens with the draft. If a team wants me in the long term, they’ll have to give up picks and then I’ll have to renegotiate. I guess in the worst-case scenario right now, I’ll come back, and I’ll have to play for the Chargers for a year and bet on myself and then be a free agent next year“.