Running back Austin Ekeler asked for a trade early in the offseason, but he won’t be moving on to another club after agreeing to a new deal with the Chargers last week.
Ekeler wanted a new contract as part of a deal, but no one stepped up to offer the Chargers enough to secure his services and Ekeler wound up agreeing to have $1.75 million in incentives added to his current pact in order to play out the final year of his current contract. The compromise may not have been what he was looking for, but offensive coordinator Kellen Moore made it clear this week that it was good news to hear that he’ll be coaching Ekeler this season.
“Excitement,” Moore said, via Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News. “Really excited to get to work with Austin. I think that he’s been, obviously, one of the top guys in this league. He has had such an impact on this place. Really excited to start building this thing together and building his role in this offense. I’m really, really excited.”
There would be high expectations for Moore’s first year with the Chargers with or without Ekeler, but reaching them should be a bit easier with the running back in the fold.