Star running back Austin Ekeler remains on the Los Angeles Chargers’ roster nearly a month after the team granted him permission to seek a trade.
Ekeler has one season remaining on a bargain four-year, $24.5 million contract he signed in the 2020 offseason. The 27-year-old is coming off a career year in which he racked up 915 rushing yards and 1,637 total scrimmage yards.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox proposed several blockbuster trade ideas that could transpire this year. One of the trade suggestions had the AFC runner-up Cincinnati Bengals acquiring the Bolts’ superstar RB:
“Ekeler averaged 4.5 yards per carry this past season, averaged 1.9 yards per carry after contact and compiled 18 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns.
Eleker is an elite dual-threat who would be perfect in the Bengals backfield next to quarterback Joe Burrow. Since he’s entering the final year of his contract, a third- or fourth-round draft pick might be enough to entice the Chargers to trade him.”
Bengals’ running back Joe Mixon was widely mentioned as a potential roster cut ahead of free agency, but that obviously hasn’t transpired. Cincy’s previous RB2, Samaje Perine, signed with the Denver Broncos in free agency.
Cincinnati boasts football’s best receiving trio in Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Giving Joe Burrow a do-it-all running back like Ekeler could certainly take this offense to an even more prolific level.
Ekeler has crossed 900 rushing yards in each of the last two seasons, recording 25 total rushing touchdowns over that span. In 2022, Ekeler recorded a career-high 107 receptions for 722 yards and five receiving touchdowns.
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The Chargers are unquestionably a better team with Ekeler, but if they’re not willing to meet his contract wishes, GM Tom Telesco will have little choice but to trade him. The Bengals certainly make sense as a landing spot for Ekeler, but only time will tell if the star running back ends up getting traded.
