By Jordan Long
The L.A. Chargers finished the season at 5-12, missing the postseason. They fired Head Coach Brandon Staley 14 games into the year. At the time, the Chargers stood 5-9. Of course, they hired Jim Harbaugh as Staley’s replacement. Next up for the Chargers is free agency starting on March 13. They would like to have running back Austin Ekeler back.
Ekeler has been with the Chargers since 2017. He was an undrafted free agent. In that time, he became their starting running back, rushing for 4,335 yards and 39 touchdowns in his career. Ekeler has never surpassed the 1,000-rushing mark in a season. The closest he came was in 2022 when Ekeler totaled 915.
This past season, Ekeler’s numbers were down, rushing for 628 yards, his lowest total since 2019 when he ran for 557 yards. Ekeler appeared in 14 games, missing 3 of them dealing with an ankle injury. He was still productive with an average yards per rush of 3.5 yards.
Now that the season is over, Ekeler is a free agent. The Chargers would like him back. According to CBSsports.com, Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said, “If things go well, it’s going to be because of guys like Austin Ekeler and the players. I like Austin Ekeler. We’re going to have a huge emphasis on the run game, and we gotta block better up front. He’s a tremendous back and we’d love to have him on the team next year. But yeah, [if] things go well, it’s kind of because of all the players. If it goes bad, it’s because I’m a bad manager, I’m a bad coach.”
Harbaugh knows the running game is going to be key next year. He wants Ekeler to be the main running back. If the running game is going well, it will open up the passing game for quarterback Justin Herbert which will keep the defenses off-balance.
Ekeler may wait to see if the Chargers offer him a new contract before free agency occurs. In that case, Ekeler will stay with the Chargers. Otherwise, Ekeler could use free agency to see what he is worth. A team might offer him a deal that the Chargers can’t. He will be in high demand because of what he brings to the running game. If Ekeler is on another team it would be a huge loss in the backfield for the Chargers. L.A. has time to negotiate a new deal with him. In the end, Ekeler will decide what is best for him.
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