Hey, here’s an interesting proposal: what if the New Orleans Saints traded for Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler? Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton made the case for such a move as well as the argument against it in light of Ekeler’s trade request, with the Chargers reportedly granting him permission to talk shop with other teams. So what’s the verdict? Is he someone the Saints should check in on?
“Kamara and Ekeler have nearly identical skill sets,” Moton wrote, arguing in favor of a teamup. “With Jamaal Williams in the fold on early-down and goal-line touches and Ekeler featured on passing downs, the Saints offense wouldn’t skip a beat if Kamara has to miss significant time.”
Kamara will go on trial in front of a Las Vegas jury on July 31 following last year’s brawl near a nightclub, in which he has been charged with conspiracy to commit battery and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. Kamara submitted a non-guilty plea on those charges but the NFL could suspend him for six weeks or longer once the legal process has concluded, regardless of the case’s result.
Ekeler, who turns 28 in May, is coming off of back-to-back career years with the Chargers. He’s ran for 911 and 915 yards (with 12 and 13 touchdown runs) the last two seasons, also catching 70 and 107 passes for 647 and 722 receiving yards (with 8 and 5 touchdown receptions), respectively. He’s led the league in touchdowns scored from scrimmage (20 and 18) in each of the last two years. He’s a very unique athlete at a listed 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, though he weighed in at 5-foot-8.5 and 199 pounds coming out of Western Colorado back in 2017.
However, Moton’s argument against the Saints making a bold move to trade for Ekeler lays out why it’s unlikely to happen. After signing Williams to a $12 million extension and with Kamara playing on his own big-money deal, it might not make sense to roster so many expensive veterans in an offense building around a new signal-caller: “Unless the Saints plan to take the ball out of quarterback Derek Carr’s hands for most of the games, they wouldn’t have enough touches available to support three costly running backs with Kamara active.”
But hey, it would be fun. Ekeler is one of the most exciting running backs in the NFL and he’s outplayed the four-year, $24.5 million deal he signed in 2020. He’s rightfully seeking for a pay raise while scheduled to play on a $6.25 million base salary in the last year of that contract, and if the Chargers were smarter they’d hurry to extend him before moving on Justin Herbert’s landmark extension in the next year or two. That organization is kind of a mess, though, and this is an opportunity for the Saints to take advantage of one of the NFL’s more-notorious clownshows.
So, yeah — the Saints should test the waters and see about trading for Ekeler. In the right circumstances, though. Having him and Williams signed long-term would give them an easier out from Kamara’s contract when his salary cap hit balloons to $18.8 million in 2024 (with a higher raise to $29 million in 2025). Both players are versatile and bring ample pro experience in the prime of their careers. If the Saints can’t find a more-affordable option in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft, Ekeler would make a lot of sense. The Saints are under the cap by a comfortable $14.6 million, not accounting for their modest $3.2 million rookie pool, and they could easily fit Ekeler on the books before hammering out a new deal.
Here’s the “but.” But as Saints salary cap specialist Khai Harley has often reminded us, just because the team can do something doesn’t mean they necessarily should. Trading a draft pick or two for Ekeler and then inking him to a pricey extension when they could select a young player on a cheap four-year deal wouldn’t be the most efficient use of resources, and if we’re guessing, this is a situation the Saints will stay away from because of the costs involved. But man, it sure would be fun, wouldn’t it?
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