The Chicago Bears have endured a ton of public shots from the media over their handling of Allen Robinson. For over a year now they’ve lambasted the team for not paying the wide receiver. “Pay the man!” they would shout. Yet for some reason nothing happened. Robinson revealed that negotiations ceased last September. That was a clear sign the two sides were far apart on a number and weren’t getting any closer.
Robinson felt he was worth a certain amount. An amount the Bears weren’t prepared to pay. Not with the 2021 salary cap set to drop. They had a threshold in mind they weren’t going to cross. What exactly was it? Insiders have hinted it is somewhere around the $20 million per year range. That would make Robinson one of the five highest-paid receivers in football.
Is he worth that? He thinks so. The Bears don’t.
They felt his price demands were too high. So they chose to use the franchise tag instead. That was fine. Surely the upcoming free agent market would validate Robinson’s position. Big contracts would flow and he’d have plenty of leverage to maintain his position. As it turns out, the receiver may have overplayed his hand. Based on recent updates, the receiver market is bad and not showing signs of getting better.
Just spoke to a free agent wide receiver to find out what’s going on with all the receivers still unsigned. He said “the WR market is really bad right now”
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) March 16, 2021
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Text from a GM on the receiver slog: "WR market is very soft and going down."
Other team and league sources with similar responses.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) March 17, 2021
Nobody proves this more than Kenny Golladay. Most consider the former Pro Bowler the best target on the market and word is the best offers he’s been receiving are in the $14-16 million range. Granted, some of that is due to the health issues he suffered last year but it’s still well below expectations. It doesn’t look like anybody will come remotely close to resetting the market, and that doesn’t help Robinson at all.
So what should the Bears do about Allen Robinson?
The wide receiver has made it clear for months that he hates the franchise tag. All signs point to him staging a holdout in the absence of a new deal. Chicago isn’t willing to meet his desired number. Will this market revelation bring it down? It is hard to say. Knowing Robinson, that seems unlikely. So the Bears are saddled with a disgruntled player wanting more money than they are willing to pay and is almost certain to be a holdout.
Do they wait him out to see if he cracks or do they consider alternatives? The primary being a possible trade. Allen Robinson is in his prime coming off two injury-free seasons where he topped 1,000 yards. It isn’t hard to believe there will be some teams out there willing to make an offer for him if the Bears opened the door. A 2nd round pick wouldn’t be out of the question.
Then they could dabble in this depressed market and a strong draft for replacements.
It isn’t what anybody wanted. Chicago has said repeatedly they’d like Robinson to stay. The receiver himself said he loves the city. This is purely a business problem. A player thinks he’s worth a certain amount. The team doesn’t agree. With potential solutions dwindling, the time for a big decision is approaching. The Bears have until July 15th to secure a long-term deal from Robinson. If it’s clear that isn’t going to happen, don’t be surprised if they trade him.
