Expert Believes Chargers' Star Believes He Set Himself Up For Failure in 2023

He succeeded to a certain degree with his offseason movement!

Austin Ekeler was a man on a mission in this 2023 offseason as he initially refused to comply with the Los Angeles Chargers and their small contract offers towards him. After some failed extension talks, Ekeler decided to bet on himself and speak to other franchises in hopes of finding someone that would be willing to trade for him.

But the 27-year-old RB chose the worst time to try this as no other RB was getting any type of legit deal near what he wanted. The Chargers already had their eyes on spending majority of their cap space on Eric Kendricks to man their defensive line and the rest went towards rounding out the rest of their roster.

Obviously, LA is saving up majority of their money in the near future so they can hand Justin Herbert his well-deserved extension whenever he is fully recovered. The hardest part about Ekeler trying to find a trade partner was that a team not only had to put together a package but also make sure they had room to give him his deal as well.

From an undrafted free agent to the @NFL TD leader in 2022, no one knows how to find the end zone quite like @austinekeler.

Happy Birthday, mate! 🇦🇺#NFL #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/KRr50ii1ZT

— NFL Australia & NZ (@NFLAUNZ) May 17, 2023

Even though news just broke that the Chargers will be welcoming back Ekeler for at least this coming season and at that, he will have the chance to earn about $2 million in incentives after coming to an agreement with the front office.

USA Today's Christian D'Andrea believes that Ekeler set himself up for failure with his offseason method and mentality to try to get a new deal.

"So what have we learned from this? Well, that Ekeler was in bad shape no matter what and $1.75 million in bonus cash, assuming he plays up to his typical standard, was the best he could do. His next contract won’t be the substantial raise for which he’d hoped, even if he’s a tremendous value as a receiver, because recent history does not shine on 29-year-old running backs."

(Via USA Today)

"It’s possible that changes, but if a reliable player like Ekeler — tailor-made for NFL passing offenses — can’t turn his production into more than $1.75 million in incentives, it’s gonna be a tough scene out there for his veteran colleagues."

(Via USA Today)

It's great to see that Ekeler will be back in powder blue nonetheless.