Austin Ekeler thinks it is time to fight back on the running back market. Reports indicate that he is organizing a running back summit where he plans to invite the NFL’s top running backs in order to discuss the depressed market for their position. Ekeler, and many others, have been very vocal about their distaste for the value of their position and they want to have a united effort to fight back.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68487650/1287217362.0.jpg "Report: Austin Ekeler Planning Running Back Summit Through Zoom 1")
Austin Ekeler Planning Running Back Summit
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported earlier in the week that there was a group text organized. Now he is reporting the top running backs will meet virtually. This is in response to Josh Jacobs, last year’s leading rusher, and Saquon Barkley not getting long-term deals from their team. Ekeler himself took a restructure that he isn’t happy about and Dalvin Cook remains unsigned as well. Teams simply do not want to pay top dollar for the position.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72459957/usa_today_19846787.0.jpg "Report: Austin Ekeler Planning Running Back Summit Through Zoom 2")
What Can They Actually Do?
Ultimately, I’m not quite sure what the goal is here. If this is a vent session, cool! Everyone needs those sometimes. What has to happen is very simple. The backup running backs have to stop being so productive. What the Giants and the Raiders are counting on is the next guys up to perform just as good or even slightly worse than the star players. For example, Barkley had over 1,300 yards last year. Could the Giants get a committee of backs to match that? Probably but also the threat of Barkley is something that cannot be quantified. As long as the teams do not have to pay for high production, running backs will continue to be underpaid.
Will the running back summit organized by Austin Ekeler do anything? Who knows but it does seem like we are at a breaking point and something is going to come out of this situation.
