The Los Angeles Chargers have agreed on a new contract with Running Back Austin Ekeler, the team MVP of the previous season. The numbers are surprising and certainly anything but too high from a team point of view.

Ekeler played at the unknown Western Colorado University at the college in Gunnison / Colorado. In the NFL Draft 2017 he initially went away empty-handed, but was then given a three-year contract worth $1.66 million. Unlike most players in his position, he was actually paid the money in full and was not cut before his first season.

In his first two years, he established himself as a backup for the initially undisputed starter Melvin Gordon; his catches were particularly noticeable. He became one of the best running backs in terms of space gain through (short) passes, which he turned into space gain.

His national breakthrough came last season, when he was promoted to #1 running back by the holdout of starter Melvin Gordon at the beginning of the season. He made the most of his situation from the beginning and in the end he scored over 1,500 yards combined and 11 touchdowns.

It was clear that his payday would come, but it was much lower than expected: He signed for four years and $24.5 million, 15 million of which was guaranteed. The site spotrac.com, which now also carries the market value of the players, had set it almost twice as high (four years / 47.8 million).

This is far below what had been offered to Melvin Gordon the previous year. So the chapter of Melvin Gordon at the Chargers should be over. Gordon will be allowed to try his luck in the Free Agency