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I'm sorry, Mr. Ekeler. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for you when you claim that you and other RB's in the league are underpaid and undervalued. Why?
• In 2017, the Bolts picked you off the scrap heap of UDFA's and gave you a job.
• Three years later, after you proved your worth, the Chargers awarded you with a 4-year, $24,500,000 contract, including a $6,000,000 signing bonus, and $15,000,000 guaranteed money. Nobody forced you to accept this offer. If you thought you were worth more, you were free to test the FA market and sign elsewhere, if you so chose.
• Today, with one year left on your current deal, you were disgruntled earlier this year, and asked to be traded. The Bolts wanted to keep you, and even offered you $1.75 million in incentives, a deal which you accepted.
• Then, not too long after this, you took to the media, dissing the Bolts and revealing details of contract negotiations:
"... I came with a lot of baggage,” Ekeler told Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. “You were going to have to trade some high picks for me. The Chargers, they weren’t going to let me go for anything that wasn’t up there, so they saw my value there. It’s funny how when they allow me the trade, they’re like, ‘OK, but we want you to get these types of picks,’ which were not low picks, ‘but we’re not going to pay you like you’re that type of player.’ So, it’s kind of interesting where it’s like, ‘Oh, if you’re going to get traded, you got to get traded at this level, but if we’re going to keep you, we’re going to keep you down here at this level.’
“You can see for them, yeah, it makes sense because they’re getting the best of both worlds there. They have the leverage. And so that’s why it was tough for me to get anything out there or get a new contract where you’re going to have to give up high picks and also restructure my contract. That’s just being transparent on my situation.” (H/T Brenna White of NFL.com)" https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic...rade_negotiati ons_went/s1_17150_39034898
• Then, if that wasn't enough, you referred to the practices of the Bolt management and other teams as "trash" for not paying RB's enough...talk about biting the hand that feeds you:
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No Mr. Ekeler, it's not trash. It's simple market economics. If a team is willing to give you a nice raise for your 2nd or 3rd contract, they will. If they are not willing to do so, they won't. NFL teams know full well that RB's wear down fast, and are gunshy about shelling out megabank for RB's who are close to, or over 30 years old. Even the stats show that out of all positions in pro football, RB's are at the bottom of the barrel in career span:
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• Is it reasonable for a RB to demand to be paid the same or similar money that the average QB or OT earns? Is it reasonable for a driver with a slew of speeding tickets to demand to pay an insurance premium equal to that of a driver with a good driving record? No! Because market economics dictate it. Insurance companies calculate how much they have to pay out for accidents caused by poor drivers, and raise their rates accordingly. Oh, I understand that a RB getting injured is not intentional. Still, the lesson in market economics is valid.
• So, Mr. Ekeler, when you organize running backs to try to lobby for higher pay, the opposite of what the market is willing to bear, I just don't have a lot of sympathy for you. The best thing you can do at this point is to quietly play well this season, test the FA market, and accept the best offer you get. If the best deal you can find is with the Chargers again, fine, sign with them. If not, move on to another team. But please spare us the whiny rhetoric, or you may soon turn off Bolt fans and your teammates alike.
• In 2017, the Bolts picked you off the scrap heap of UDFA's and gave you a job.
• Three years later, after you proved your worth, the Chargers awarded you with a 4-year, $24,500,000 contract, including a $6,000,000 signing bonus, and $15,000,000 guaranteed money. Nobody forced you to accept this offer. If you thought you were worth more, you were free to test the FA market and sign elsewhere, if you so chose.
• Today, with one year left on your current deal, you were disgruntled earlier this year, and asked to be traded. The Bolts wanted to keep you, and even offered you $1.75 million in incentives, a deal which you accepted.
• Then, not too long after this, you took to the media, dissing the Bolts and revealing details of contract negotiations:
"... I came with a lot of baggage,” Ekeler told Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. “You were going to have to trade some high picks for me. The Chargers, they weren’t going to let me go for anything that wasn’t up there, so they saw my value there. It’s funny how when they allow me the trade, they’re like, ‘OK, but we want you to get these types of picks,’ which were not low picks, ‘but we’re not going to pay you like you’re that type of player.’ So, it’s kind of interesting where it’s like, ‘Oh, if you’re going to get traded, you got to get traded at this level, but if we’re going to keep you, we’re going to keep you down here at this level.’
“You can see for them, yeah, it makes sense because they’re getting the best of both worlds there. They have the leverage. And so that’s why it was tough for me to get anything out there or get a new contract where you’re going to have to give up high picks and also restructure my contract. That’s just being transparent on my situation.” (H/T Brenna White of NFL.com)" https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic...rade_negotiati ons_went/s1_17150_39034898
• Then, if that wasn't enough, you referred to the practices of the Bolt management and other teams as "trash" for not paying RB's enough...talk about biting the hand that feeds you:
image.png
No Mr. Ekeler, it's not trash. It's simple market economics. If a team is willing to give you a nice raise for your 2nd or 3rd contract, they will. If they are not willing to do so, they won't. NFL teams know full well that RB's wear down fast, and are gunshy about shelling out megabank for RB's who are close to, or over 30 years old. Even the stats show that out of all positions in pro football, RB's are at the bottom of the barrel in career span:
image.png
• Is it reasonable for a RB to demand to be paid the same or similar money that the average QB or OT earns? Is it reasonable for a driver with a slew of speeding tickets to demand to pay an insurance premium equal to that of a driver with a good driving record? No! Because market economics dictate it. Insurance companies calculate how much they have to pay out for accidents caused by poor drivers, and raise their rates accordingly. Oh, I understand that a RB getting injured is not intentional. Still, the lesson in market economics is valid.
• So, Mr. Ekeler, when you organize running backs to try to lobby for higher pay, the opposite of what the market is willing to bear, I just don't have a lot of sympathy for you. The best thing you can do at this point is to quietly play well this season, test the FA market, and accept the best offer you get. If the best deal you can find is with the Chargers again, fine, sign with them. If not, move on to another team. But please spare us the whiny rhetoric, or you may soon turn off Bolt fans and your teammates alike.
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