The Chicago Bears haven’t exactly handled Allen Robinson in the best manner over the past couple of months. Despite plenty of evidence showing he is a top wide receiver in the NFL and easily the best offensive player they have, the team has failed to find a contract he’s willing to accept. Word is the Bears wanted him between $16-17 million per year. Robinson was seeking $18 million. That divide clearly hasn’t been bridged.
It’s clear the Bears aren’t willing to go that final distance. Why? Most believe the realities of the 2021 salary cap have forced ownership to tighten the purse strings. With the cap set to drop to around $175 million, the Bears are projected to be almost $7 million in the red. Even with a cap rollover from this year, they’ll barely have $2 million. They’ll have to do some serious maneuvering of the payroll just give Robinson what he wants.
This is a problem since they have several other roster issues to deal with.
Nobody is denying Robinson’s value to the team. This is just a brutal case of outside factors impacting the bottom line. One thing is for sure. It appears the 27-year old receiver won’t have a shortage of suitors if and when he hits the open market next March. Even with a lot of cap casualties expected, there is belief Robinson will still be in demand.
Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic compiled the list of the top 50 projected free agents for the 2021 offseason. While Dak Prescott was unsurprisingly #1, Bears fans probably won’t be thrilled at Robinson’s spot. He sat nestled comfortably at #4 behind fellow receivers Chris Godwin and Kenny Golladay.
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“His talent is obvious, but Robinson has been victimized by bad quarterback play since signing with the Bears in 2018. He’ll now get another chance to test the market. Robinson’s 1,902 receiving yards since the start of 2019 are the eighth-most among wide receivers.”
Bears have three options with Allen Robinson
The path of least resistance is simply letting him walk. While it gets the team nothing in the short-term, it does likely guarantee them a 3rd round pick in 2022. GM Ryan Pace (or whoever replaces him) could then comb over the market for cheaper options. The odds are there will be plenty of choices due to other teams cleaning their books up as well.
Their next option involves the franchise tag. If the Bears are certain the receiver has no interest in staying long-term, they can tag him to retain his rights and then work the trade market in order to find a team willing to give up draft capital. Given his value, the odds are good they’ll find somebody willing to make a deal.
The last option is their Hail Mary play.
They tag Allen Robinson and look to keep him through the 2021 season. The idea being they get another year of production from him while buying more time to maybe work out a long-term deal both sides can be happy with. Odds are the man himself won’t be tickled with this idea. He hasn’t been subtle in expressing his dislike for the franchise tag. Would he consider holding out? Maybe, maybe not.
If the Bears go this direction, they’ll still need to find the money to pay him. That could mean somebody else on the roster gets sacrificed to make it happen. So the team must make absolutely sure they want him in their long-term plans beyond 2020 before making their move.