Austin Ekeler’s fresh industry request does not imply that he needs to go away the Chargers. In reality, the flexible working again lately mentioned that he want to stick with the franchise that signed him as an undrafted rookie again in 2017, but provided that the location is true.
Ekeler’s fresh contract, he mentioned, is the one reason he has asked a industry. He has 12 months final on a four-year, $24.5 million deal (with $15 million assured) that he signed in 2020. His present projected marketplace price is a three-year deal with $12.82 million yearly, according to Spotrac.
“I think it’s really important to put it out there that it’s not like, ‘Oh, I hate the Chargers and I need to get out of this organization, and I need to leave,'” he mentioned throughout a contemporary look on “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast, via NFL Media. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. I would like to stay if it was under the right circumstances.
“Obviously, I’ve another yr on my contract there, so I’m contractually obligated to play for them for this upcoming yr. So, we are in a state of affairs the place it is like, glance, we haven’t any promises or the rest like that this yr, so more or less in a place the place I’ve been outplaying my contract, and we may have a chance to move search out different choices that may deliver me up.”
Ekeler emphasised that his industry request isn’t a mirrored image on how he perspectives his time with the Chargers.
“It literally has nothing to do with the relationship. I’ve made a great relationship there,” he mentioned. “Grown there. That’s where I started. So, I want to be there, but on the right terms. Because I know, look, I can’t play forever. I think I can play for a long time just the way I play and the way I treat myself and my mentality.”
Ekeler has a powerful argument relating to his want to obtain a pay lift. He has been some of the NFL’s most efficient talent gamers during the last two seasons after accidents restricted him to ten video games in 2020. Over the previous two seasons, Ekeler has run for 1,826 yards and 25 touchdowns. He has additionally stuck 177 passes for 1,369 yards and 13 touchdowns over that span.
Ekeler’s determination to signal his present deal again in 2020 is rather of a head scratcher. He was once coming off of a 2019 season that noticed him amass over 1,500 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns that integrated a 993 yards receiving.
The 27-year-old mentioned if he was once introduced with a possibility to get extra price then “why would you not jump on that?”
After taking part in neatly beneath marketplace price for the closing a number of years, Ekeler, who has been granted permission by way of the Chargers to hunt a industry spouse, is hoping to be correctly compensated faster fairly than later. He mentioned that there is not any timetable, then again, with regards to a conceivable industry.
“I’m so underpaid right now as far as my contract and what I contribute to the team, it’s like, I am relentlessly pursuing this,” Ekeler mentioned. “I want to get something long-term done. I want a team that wants me long term. I’m at the peak of my game, right? As long as I’m healthy, I’m gonna score you another 20 touchdowns. I’m gonna have, you know, another 1,600 all-purpose yards. I’m getting half my value of what I could be getting. I am relentlessly pursuing someone who wants me for the long term.”