Chargers running back Austin Ekeler wants a new contract, but he’s sounding resigned to the fact that he’s not getting one.
Ekeler said on SiriusXM that he isn’t happy about the Chargers’ attitude toward a new contract, but he recognizes that he has another year on his contract and will have to play out his deal if the Chargers don’t give him a new contract or trade him to a team that will.
“I kind of got punched in the face when the Chargers basically said we don’t want to talk about extensions any more. This is an organization I continue to rise and hit new heights in,” Ekeler said. “That’s how it felt. It felt like, Wow. This was the first time in my career with them I felt disrespected by my own organization. It sucks. I want to be a Charger. I want to be a Charger. I want to be there and it sucks because it’s like, let’s get something done. Yes, I do have one more year on my contract, absolutely, but for them to want to allow me to be a free agent next year, maybe we’ll get something done throughout the year, who knows how it’s going to play out, but that’s how I’m feeling right now. We don’t have insight into how they’re thinking because they’re just like, ‘Nah, we don’t want to talk anymore.’”
Ekeler thinks he’s underpaid, but the reality in the NFL right now is that his $6.25 million base salary for the 2023 season is just not something many teams are going to want to trade for. NFL teams aren’t spending much on running backs, and Ekeler’s best bet may prove to be playing for $6.25 million this year, and hoping to play well enough to get more than that in free agency next year.