Bears should move on from Keenan Allen |
When Chicago traded for six-time Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen, it seemed like a great move. Pairing him with DJ Moore and eventually rookie receiver Rome Odunze also seemed to give the Bears the offensive weapons they needed for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to thrive. But that is not how it played out.
Moore called it a race to 1,000 receiving yards with this trio of receivers. Ultimately, none of them reached 1,000 receiving yards, although Moore came the closest as he led Chicago in that category with 966 yards. Odunze led the Bears in yards per reception. Allen was first on the Bears in touchdown receptions with seven, one shy of tying his career high. His touchdown receptions were the highlight of his season, as his production was far below normal. Allen caught 70 receptions for 744 yards, a career-low catch percentage of 57.9 percent. His yards were also his lowest since 2016 when he only played one game. This season, Allen also had career lows in receptions per game and yards per game. These numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. Allen was injured and missed two games; he also played through injury numerous weeks. There was also turmoil at offensive coordinator as Shane Waldron was fired mid-season and replaced by Thomas Brown, who subsequently became the head coach, and Chris Beatty finished the year as Chicago’s offensive coordinator. Under Waldron’s offense, Allen only scored two touchdowns - both coming in one game. With Brown as the playcaller, Allen had four different games with a score. So, the chaos in the coaching staff clearly impacted Allen’s production this season. With all of that said, it still would not be in Chicago’s best interest to bring Allen back for another season. There are two reasons for that - his age and his cost because of his age. First, Allen is 32 years old and will have turned 33 by the time next season begins. Not many receivers have continued to play in the NFL at an elite level at this age and Allen certainly did not have an elite season this year. However, the larger concern regarding his age is the salary that comes with it. Right now, Allen is in the last year of his contract. He had a $23.1 million cap hit this year and made an average salary of $20.025 million. He would most likely be looking for a multi-year contract, as that would provide the most stability for him. Regardless of the length, an accomplished player like Allen would most likely not take a pay cut and want at least $20 million. Chicago is set to have over $83.3 million in cap space going into the offseason. Surely, they can afford to pay Allen whatever salary he wants. However, that would take a large chunk out of the cap, and the Bears need to save cap more for other free-agent acquisitions and their draft picks. Given the Bears already have their top two receivers financially taken care of in Moore and Odunze, over $20 million could be put to use elsewhere. If the Bears wanted another elite veteran receiver to pair with Moore and keep Odunze as the No. 3 receiver, numerous receivers, including Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs, Chris Godwin, and Tee Higgins, are set to become unrestricted free agents. All of these players are younger than Allen, particularly Higgins, who is only 25 years old and coming off a strong year with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he had 10 receiving touchdowns. There are also receivers like Marquise Brown and Darius Slayton who would be less expensive and younger. They still showed flashes this season and could step into the No. 2 or No. 3 wide receiver spot. Overall, having another veteran receiver around would be good for the offense, but there are options that are less expensive and more worthwhile than keeping Keenan Allen.
