The Los Angeles Chargers made headlines last week when they traded star wide receiver Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears for a 4th round pick. It was a shocking move since the team had already done enough to get under the salary cap. They’d already released wide receiver Mike Williams. One would think they’d want to keep their top weapon for Justin Herbert. Instead, Allen is on a new team. The primary reason for this was that the two sides did not find common ground on his contract. This is where it gets sticky.
New Chargers GM Joe Hortiz spoke with the media on Thursday, stating the team approached Allen about multiple solutions to the contract problem, including a possible extension. He made it seem as if the receiver wasn’t willing to work with them, so a trade was made.
Well, it appears that Allen took exception to that narrative. His agent, Joby Branion, took to Twitter (X) to counter those comments with a direct statement. The “extension,” as the Chargers called it, involved a significant pay cut. This was despite Allen coming off one of the best seasons of his career. When their counteroffer was rejected, the team chose to pursue a trade.
Keenan Allen was right to resist a pay cut.
Nothing about his play last year justified such a move. He put up over 1200 yards despite missing four games with injuries. He’s still a beast on the field, even in his 30s. No player should feel any responsibility to take less money when they’re playing at a high level. It’s not his fault the Chargers were so terrible at managing their salary cap in recent years. Their efforts to decrease fan backlash by stating they tried to work with him on an extension despite it being a clear slap in the face is typical of how organizations operate.
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The Bears won’t complain. L.A.’s cheap approach helped them land a stud wide receiver for their young offense. Having Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore together right as they’re about to draft a quarterback #1 overall couldn’t be better timed. They also have a healthy salary cap, meaning they can handle his contract numbers without issue. The only question is whether they can find common ground on an extension. GM Ryan Poles is good about working through these issues, but time will tell.
@timg I’m too dumb for business classes. What I do understand is the WR’s numbers start seriously degrading as they pas 30 and tend to go real bad at 32. We can agree that Allen is not Jerry Rice who had a HOF career if we only counted his production after age 32. Marvin Harrison had 3 excellent seasons from age 31-33, then off the cliff he went. We know an outlier when we see one. They’re in the extreme minority. But guys like Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Randy Moss (age 32 great, age 33 done!) show you what’s more… Read more »
@Krisanthony So if a business buys inventory that is know to be outdated by a certain time or spoils by a given date, they aren’t responsible for the cost of the purchase? Players are inventory to some teams. How does that work? If you give a contract to someone who will pass the age of production, it is the exact same mistake in judgment. Your loss as the purchaser. Don’t blame the player for getting older. I’m sure if there were an alternative they’d stay young forever. I guess we’ll see how that plastic cover on the Charger management’s belly… Read more »
You know, if you go to your job and they said, “Hmm, we effed up. We’re not making as much money as we can make off your efforts and the other workers here because we’re overpaying you. So here’s the deal. We’ll give you less along with your buddies and we’ll advertise for more schmucks to get jobs at that same low rate. Thanks for your hard work. BTW a couple other high paid suckers took the deal. They’ll be so goooood when once we hire more idiots at a better wage.” Sorry, any mention that Bosa or Mack aren’t… Read more »
WR’s just aren’t as productive after age 32. It’s not just this past season, it is a well known thing. I highly doubt that Allen was brought in for multiple seasons. 6th round pick as comp adds to that.
Great WR’s have huge egos and for good reason. They are stars. Lots of men can throw a football. But executing route after route, grabbing passes, beating your man, and getting more, is great football that everyone wants to see. Rookies almost never give you all this. K.Allen is a proven talent with the skills every year to give people what they want to see. He has no intention of slowing down. So talking about pays cuts and age is not in his mind. I can respect that. However, we all know that any GM is looking at his calendar… Read more »