Austin Ekeler is not a free agent this offseason. But the Los Angeles Chargers star doesn’t plan on sitting idly while the running back market is in shambles.
The 28-year-old organized a Zoom meeting for Saturday night, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. The invite list reportedly included “all of the big-name running backs.” The plan originated from a group text chain amongst top running backs that began on Monday. The NFL Players Association was said to also be involved in planning the meeting.
After none of the running backs who received franchise tags reached long-term deals with their clubs prior to Monday’s deadline, several top backs voiced their displeasure via Twitter.
Running backs chime in after fellow RBs didn’t receive extensions 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/H6rfj0Us0X
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 17, 2023
Seeing those actions evolve into a Zoom meeting between the parties is no surprise.
The call was likely organized as a way to conduct a nuanced discussion on the state of the running back market amongst the people directly affected. It’s unclear, however, how much about the meeting will be made known to the public — if at all.
From a more trivial standpoint, the meeting could raise some interesting questions for fans sniffing for NFL stories during the offseason.
It would be interesting to know which RBs made the list of invitees and how they determined who the “big-name running backs” were. Was there a brain trust or was it just Ekeler’s call? Was there an RB power ranking established with some names on the bubble and others outright rejected? And just like Pro Bowl teams, there must have been a running back left out that was probably expecting an invite. Most importantly, could the Zoom meeting have just been an email?
Kidding aside, the most significant aspect of the meeting would likely be whatever actionable points the running backs agree upon — and whether those points prove to be effective.
Top running backs such as Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs remain potential holdout candidates with training camp near. The Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants are surely hoping the meeting sways their star RBs toward reconciliation rather than widen the existing rift.
