Austin Ekeler has become one of the faces of running backs making a public argument for better contracts.
After the Chargers RB — who has led the league in touchdowns in each of the last two seasons — did not receive an extension from Los Angeles and did not receive interest on the trade market, he had to settle for some added incentives to the final year of his contract.
On Thursday, Ekeler again made a public case for those at his position after helping organize a Zoom call with star RBs like Nick Chubb, Saquon Barkley, and Christian McCaffrey.
“There’s a ton of that we can do,” Ekeler said, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN. “One is controlling the narrative. We’re starting to put out this narrative that’s kind of combatant against what’s been out there so far. A lot of it seems like there’s a lot of media trying to justify why the running backs aren’t getting paid.”
Ekeler said that while media members may use “general numbers” when discussing running backs, what the individuals mean to their respective teams “goes deeper than that.”
“We’re actual players and we all have different impacts on each team, so it’s very situational,” Ekeler said.
Colts owner Jim Irsay poured some proverbial gasoline on the fire Wednesday night with his tweet about running backs and the negotiated CBA. Ekeler conceded that Irsay isn’t wrong, but noted that there’s more to it than that.
“The franchise tag is in the CBA, but the reason the CBA is what it is, is because we have fought and clawed and tried to pull rights for ourselves as players,” Ekeler said. “Us as players have to come together and say, ‘Hey, we have to stand up for ourselves because we don’t, we’re going to get drug through the dirt and we’re going to get controlled.’
“So, we have to protect ourselves and how do we do that? Well, we have to come together and when we have things that come up, this is when we have to make sure we come together so we can protect ourselves.”
