Ekeler: Negotiated Incentives for 2023 Contract Year

[Lone Bolt]

If already mentioned, apologies, but on greenlight w chris long (find it on youtube) there is a very good interview with Eke. In a nutshell? He is simply trying to open doors for a better situation for himself...while he still has time...but sounds like in the absence of any new opportunity, he is absolutely gonna honor his contract with the Bolts...and with enthusiasm. He seems to be seperating his efforts to obtain long term and fair compensation...from whoever...and his dedication/obligation to winning as a Charger. While he does come off a bit cocky...he is also without rancor, and have to admit, its a grounded, and extremely professional attitude, relative to many of his peers in this league, over the years...I was impressed.

And also not worried about Eke being all in next year, if nothing gets done.

[dmac_bolt]

If already mentioned, apologies, but on greenlight w chris long (find it on youtube) there is a very good interview with Eke. In a nutshell? He is simply trying to open doors for a better situation for himself...while he still has time...but sounds like in the absence of any new opportunity, he is absolutely gonna honor his contract with the Bolts...and with enthusiasm. He seems to be seperating his efforts to obtain long term and fair compensation...from whoever...and his dedication/obligation to winning as a Charger. While he does come off a bit cocky...he is also without rancor, and have to admit, its a grounded, and extremely professional attitude, relative to many of his peers in this league, over the years...I was impressed.

And also not worried about Eke being all in next year, if nothing gets done.

Thats what I expected - he’s a high class individual. I am not worried about him coming back, he will be Eke and he will be welcome.

[Budsman]

If already mentioned, apologies, but on greenlight w chris long (find it on youtube) there is a very good interview with Eke. In a nutshell? He is simply trying to open doors for a better situation for himself...while he still has time...but sounds like in the absence of any new opportunity, he is absolutely gonna honor his contract with the Bolts...and with enthusiasm. He seems to be seperating his efforts to obtain long term and fair compensation...from whoever...and his dedication/obligation to winning as a Charger. While he does come off a bit cocky...he is also without rancor, and have to admit, its a grounded, and extremely professional attitude, relative to many of his peers in this league, over the years...I was impressed.

And also not worried about Eke being all in next year, if nothing gets done.

That’s good to hear. I really like Ekeler and want him in the team, if he doesn’t become a distraction and it’s just business then good. I’ll admit he hasn’t been too bad during the process. Some of his social media has been a bit silly but nothing egregious imo.

[Budsman]

Ekeler was our best RB. Kelly is not a replacement for Ekeler if you want to run in between the tackles. Kelly is there to spell Ekeler, he is a lesser version of Ekeler.
Spiller has shown nothing. Ekeler is a true RB. His ability in space and as a receiver and carry the football makes him a duel threat, multidimensional guy. Just the
opposite of what you posted.

He not a big RB that will run into the line and gain 3 yards. If that's all the guy can do it makes him on dimensional. I'd take a guy like
Ekeler or CMC every day and twice on Sundays over that type of guy. With that said we need that type of guy on third/forth and short yardage. You can blame our
FO for not having such a RB. So no it's not Ekeler fault. Most other teams employ a 2 RB system. The day of the cow bell RB is dead. There remains less than
5 guys that fit that bill.

The player limitations was caused by injury to Williams (deep threat), Allen (our 3rd down guy). The speed guy was Guyton, out for the year with injury.

I hope you realize Ekeler is in his final year of his contract with the Chargers. In such years when a team wants or need you they enter talks to extend
the contract. The Chargers could not come to terms with Ekeler. It's not anybody's fault. Ekeler deserves more money, unfortunately the market for RBs
just does not dictate a raise for Ekeler. That's just the way the cookie crumbles. So no problem with the Chargers or Ekeler. He is seeking a better contract,
normal for anybody. The only distraction so far are people like you. Ekeler has not said he's going to hold out, until he does hold your horses. He's been
a valuable asset to the team. No reason yet to start throwing punches at the guy.

I never said Kelly was a replacement to Ekeler he was an acknowledgement that he is incomplete and we need a bigger back to compliment Ekeler, which isn’t a secret even Ekeler has admitted it.

it is funny how you admit the had to draft a 3rd round back to help Ekeler then talk about him being multidimensional, lol. Ekeler is what he is an over hyped 3rd down back not big enough to take the beating of running between the tackles. No amount of spinning can convince me that the guy who was the chargers number one back for two years but couldn’t break 1k rushing yards in a season is multidimensional.

Oh and can you stop pretending that Ekeler is even close to CMC in skill. CMC has 3 seasons of over 1k rushing and one of those seasons he had 1300r and 1000k receiving yards. The guy can run between the tackles better than Ekeler and is a bigger recieving threat than Ekeler. He’s admittedly glass but that’s not the argument his actual skill set is better than Ekelers.

lol, Ekeler doesn’t deserve more money than he is getting paid. He’s probably overpaid frankly and no one wants to pay him more which is obvious from the complete lack of bites in the market. You’re worth what the market sets for you and currently the market doesn’t think he’s worth more than what he’s making at the least.

As for distractions, it’s the off-season now of course we’re going to talk about it. The padres haven’t started so I’m bored and this is interesting. If he is disgruntled then it’s an issue, and it’s not crazy to think that could be the case with his social media blunders along the way. It could be nothing and just him looking to maximize value and do the smart business move and that’s great but without knowing it begs questions and concerns. I also haven’t mentioned holdout so please don’t project other people’s concerns on me, I don’t think he’s going to hold out he has zero leverage.

Lasty, about throwing punches. I don’t understand why a public figure that makes his money through a highly public venture funded by fans is somehow not supposed to take some flack when they do something that is a tad bit controversial like requesting a trade. He makes his money from being public when he shows his ass a bit and it gets called out that also part of being a multimillionaire sports figure. No apologies from me for that ever.

[Budsman]

Gaining over 900 yards on the ground and over 700 yards receiving is very balanced. What you want and need is 2 yards and a cloud of dust guy. A guy like Bijan would be
welcome. But bell cow RBs do not last, there are no more LT guys. It's best to have 2RB, ideally they complement each other.

I agree, I like the two back system. I love the backfields like they had in Cleveland or GB, but that is a lot of money to put into two good players in a devalued position. Look at the chiefs and some other teams who had multiple but really settled on one main one vs a 1a 1b situation.

More than all of that, I really want a back that is either Dominant and unstoppable at what they do (Henry) or a 3 down threat. The problem with Ekeler is on 3rd and 3-5 no team really expects us to run with Ekeler. They are ok accepting a possible run because they are willing to bet that he can’t beat their base D if he runs while they play the pass. He’s just too one dimensional and teams know it and can scheme much better to stop the chargers because of it. A player like Bijan would make the offense more multiple when he’s on the field and threaten all parts of the defense forcing them to be honest.

[electricgold]

If already mentioned, apologies, but on greenlight w chris long (find it on youtube) there is a very good interview with Eke. In a nutshell? He is simply trying to open doors for a better situation for himself...while he still has time...but sounds like in the absence of any new opportunity, he is absolutely gonna honor his contract with the Bolts...and with enthusiasm. He seems to be seperating his efforts to obtain long term and fair compensation...from whoever...and his dedication/obligation to winning as a Charger. While he does come off a bit cocky...he is also without rancor, and have to admit, its a grounded, and extremely professional attitude, relative to many of his peers in this league, over the years...I was impressed.

And also not worried about Eke being all in next year, if nothing gets done.

Listened to this interview. Basically he's saying he wants to play here but only under the right circumstances, meaning more money and an extension. He feels like he is so under paid. He says he will play out his contract if no one trades for him, but again he will feel like he is playing here under the wrong circumstance if he's not paid more and extended? So who knows if he'll report late, looks like he could hold out until the start of the season.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Anyone wants to hear right from Ekler's mouth here is the interview with Chris Long

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRS1sWZ1oS0

[Air Coryell]

“I am so underpaid right now as far as my contract and what I contribute to the team, I am relentlessly pursuing this"

JH is underpaid per his contract. Many folks are overpaid and become cap issues. EK was happy when he got a multi year contract and security from the Chargers. Bad agent if he didn't have upside $$ in his contract based on performance.

He will not get $7M per going forward. No one is trading for him. He is on the wrong side of father time, for a RB. To me, he is all about the money. He doesn't care where he plays. I doubt that he performs well this season if he stays with the Chargers. I expect him to get traded by draft time. Will put a damper on 2023.

[Fouts2herbert]

If already mentioned, apologies, but on greenlight w chris long (find it on youtube) there is a very good interview with Eke. In a nutshell? He is simply trying to open doors for a better situation for himself...while he still has time...but sounds like in the absence of any new opportunity, he is absolutely gonna honor his contract with the Bolts...and with enthusiasm. He seems to be seperating his efforts to obtain long term and fair compensation...from whoever...and his dedication/obligation to winning as a Charger. While he does come off a bit cocky...he is also without rancor, and have to admit, its a grounded, and extremely professional attitude, relative to many of his peers in this league, over the years...I was impressed.

And also not worried about Eke being all in next year, if nothing gets done.

It was hard to watch that interview, he seems desperate, lost, and heartbroken…it leads me to believe that he might end up regretting going down this trade route with his agent…this is not something that’s going to bring anything positive to the locker room…sounds like he’s mad about how the NFL as a whole is treating running backs and rightfully so but I think maybe his agent led him astray a bit…it doesn’t sound like this was a well informed decision from his representative…now that he sees what’s waiting for him out there…I’d look for different representation and hope that the new guy can mend fences inside the FO and maybe get a short term extension with some guaranteed money on it…that was hard to watch, it’s to see the concern in his eyes and to hear him say things like, “I want to stay” he’s smart enough to realize he’s got no leverage, but he still seems like he’s unwilling to accept that reality, and that is not going to lead to anything good

[Fouts2herbert]

“I am so underpaid right now as far as my contract and what I contribute to the team, I am relentlessly pursuing this"

JH is underpaid per his contract. Many folks are overpaid and become cap issues. EK was happy when he got a multi year contract and security from the Chargers. Bad agent if he didn't have upside $$ in his contract based on performance.

He will not get $7M per going forward. No one is trading for him. He is on the wrong side of father time, for a RB. To me, he is all about the money. He doesn't care where he plays. I doubt that he performs well this season if he stays with the Chargers. I expect him to get traded by draft time. Will put a damper on 2023.

The front office is not going to be happy watching that interview, this sort of thing leads to bad blood IMO, sounds like he’s digging in his heels despite seeing what’s out there and he’s unwilling to accept it, that was very hard to see…I think the chargers let him test the market out of respect and to not hold him hostage, AND so that he would realize what’s going on out there,….but if he’s unwilling to accept that reality then I fear his time as a charger is over…

[Fouts2herbert]

That’s good to hear. I really like Ekeler and want him in the team, if he doesn’t become a distraction and it’s just business then good. I’ll admit he hasn’t been too bad during the process. Some of his social media has been a bit silly but nothing egregious imo.

Maybe you should watch the interview for yourself, it’s not long, I guess we all take out of it what we want, but I don’t share lone bolts enthusiasm about the video…seems like this ekeler thing is headed for a bad conclusion, NOBODY, on here wants him back more than me and I’ve been defending him from all the people knocking him lately, but if he’s unwilling to accept the reality of the situation he finds himself in then it’s only going to lead to trouble…these kind of things tend to spill over into the locker room and create trouble…the offseason stuff doesn’t exist in a vaccum and then once camp starts everyone is happy, as much as I’d like to believe that, that’s not reality, if you don’t believe me ask the green bay packers…

[Topcat]

If already mentioned, apologies, but on greenlight w chris long (find it on youtube) there is a very good interview with Eke. In a nutshell? He is simply trying to open doors for a better situation for himself...while he still has time...but sounds like in the absence of any new opportunity, he is absolutely gonna honor his contract with the Bolts...and with enthusiasm. He seems to be seperating his efforts to obtain long term and fair compensation...from whoever...and his dedication/obligation to winning as a Charger. While he does come off a bit cocky...he is also without rancor, and have to admit, its a grounded, and extremely professional attitude, relative to many of his peers in this league, over the years...I was impressed.

And also not worried about Eke being all in next year, if nothing gets done.

I really like Ekkie...but...with our cap situation next year, we're probably better off letting him go and getting a nice 3rd round comp for him...can't afford to sign him to a bank new deal, and still get nice compensation for him...