Ekeler has spoken about wanting to protect himself in free agency, and his words before indicated that he knew his time with the team was coming to a close after the season ended.

However, with the arrival of Jim Harbaugh, it could be that Ekeler is changing his tune a bit. It’s easy to get frustrated with a losing season, so his comments before could have been borne out of that frustration.

Anyone in the football world knows how valuable Harbaugh is, and the excitement of his new reign with the Chargers could convince many pending free agents to stick around for at least one more season.

It will just be up to the Chargers and Ekeler to come to an agreement, though we doubt he would land a big multi-year deal in the same manner he was seeking before the 2023 season began.