We all have to be careful during this time of the year. When free agency hits, every Tom, Dick and Harry comes out of the woodwork on social media claiming they know of certain rumors regarding players and teams. Now, I am not going to speak to the rumors being true or now. However, the rumor is that the Los Angeles Chargers gave permission to Austin Ekeler and his agent to seek out a trade.
Now, the rumors about this part of the situation are very legit. The news was broken by Adam Schefter and not a fake account.
Chargers granted permission to RB Austin Ekeler today to seek a trade after the two sides failed to make progress for a new contract, per his agent Cameron Weiss.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2023
There have been other rumors floating around though that the Chicago Bears were the first team (or at least one team) that Austin Ekeler and his agent called. I'd have to wonder if Ekeler's agent and he were going down an alphabetical list of teams and after ruling out some of the early ones, the Chicago Bears came up and Austin Ekeler was interested.
As of now, the rumors I have seen have all been about Cameron Weiss calling Chicago and not the other way around. If Ryan Poles did take that call, my assumption is that it would go something like this...
"Yeah, we are interested. Not sure we will come to some type of agreement though. As you know, we are building this thing from the ground up and I am not sure how sending anything better than a fourth-round pick for an aging running back who has never gained over 1,000 yards rushing makes sense for the Chicago Bears. Let me know if we are in the ballpark, if not, good luck."
Again, that is not an actual quote. I am purely speculating. However, ignoring the rumors as news, I just have to ask what Matt Nagy has been trying to find his entire coaching career -- why? Why would Ryan Poles, a general manager who has said and so far proven he is more interested in building this team through the draft, look to trade draft capital for Austin Ekeler?
I don't want to discount how good Austin Ekeler is as a player. He may not have eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing, but over the last two years, he has gained 1,826 yards rushing and ,1369 yards receiving. He is a homerun hitter who also has scored 38 total touchdowns over that same two-year span. Having him in this offense would obviously only help Justin Fields. However, I just don't see Fields giving him the 80+ targets he needs each year to remain relevant. At most I would think he sees 50 to 60.
Furthermore, Ekeler is about to turn 28. He only has one year left on his deal making him essentially a rental player. His base salary is $6.25 million. The Bears are looking to build for the now and the future. Austin Ekeler just does not seem to fit that description. If Poles is able to send a fifth or sixth-round pick for Ekeler then I say do it. If it will cost a fourth-round pick or higher, then it makes more sense to just draft a running back in April -- something I expect them to do no matter what happens.