Getty Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler.
The Washington Commanders have earned a lot of praise in the offseason — perhaps more than any team ever has after finishing the previous season 4-13.
It’s worth pointing out that these are still the Commanders, and the track record of bad football and bad decisions won’t be that easy to shake off — as pointed out by The Landry Hat’s Jerry Trotta in a critique of four free-agent signings by the franchise and new head coach Dan Quinn.
Those signings were defensive end Dorance Armstrong (3 years, $45 million), center Tyler Biadasz (3 years, $30 million), tight end Zach Ertz (1 year, $3 million) and running back Austin Ekeler (2 years, $8.4 million) — contracts totaling $76.4 million of the $190 million the Commanders spent on new contracts in the offseason.
Quinn comes to the Commanders after three seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys and, previous to that, six seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
“Of course, splurging in free agency doesn’t always equate to winning,” Trotta wrote. “Quinn overpaid a pair of Cowboys free agents in Dorance Armstrong and Tyler Biadasz and signed a 33-year-old tight end in Zach Ertz who’s played only 17 games the last two seasons. Any of those moves could blow up in Quinn’s face, but there’s one marquee signing that already looks like a flop: running back Austin Ekeler.”
Why Does Ekeler Already Seem Like a Flop?
Ekeler recently did the thing that no NFL player should do when moving to another team — throw any perceptible form of shade at their old team. It never turns out good.
“I think you can kind of see how they’ve (the Chargers) been building the team so far this offseason,” Ekeler said on the Up & Adams podcast with Kay Adams on June 10. “Went out and drafted a tackle first round, brought in some bigger backs over from Baltimore. So it’s like, hey, they want a guy they can hand the ball off to 300 times a year and, look, I haven’t had that capacity to do that. That’s not my game.”
In no universe was Ekeler ever going to be asked to carry the ball 300 times by the Los Angeles Chargers. He averaged 141.4 carries per season over his first seven seasons in the NFL after making the the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of NCAA Division II Western Colorado in 2017.
Ekeler has only touched the ball over 300 times once in his career, when he had 204 carries and 107 receptions in 2022 (311 touches) on the way to 1,637 yards of total offense and 18 touchdowns.
Armstrong, Biadasz Will Be Key Contributors
While the criticism of Ekeler might be warranted — the Commanders already have a good running back in place with Brian Robinson — Armstrong and Biadasz both come over from the Cowboys and seem like they can be key contributors right away.
Armstrong has 18.5 sacks over the last three seasons despite missing 17 games, including a career high 8.5 sacks in just 7 games in 2022. Biadasz has been one of the NFL’s best centers the last three seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2022 — he’s also started all but two games since 2021.