Stop if you’ve heard this before. Apparently, Allen Robinson is due for a contract extension for the Chicago Bears. Crazy, right? The truth is this story has dominated most of the team headlines since the 2019 season came to an end. Everybody knew Robinson was entering the final year of his current deal. They knew he had a high value on the Bears’ offense. It made sense the two sides would work hard to hammer out an extension.
Almost 10 months later? Nothing.
Robinson and the Bears have remained deadlocked in negotiations. Recent reports are the team was looking at around $16 million per year. The receiver wants $18 million. After Robert Woods got his new deal from the Rams, Chicago upped their offer. Yet things remain silent. Robinson still seems frustrated by the process, as do the fans. So what gives? Why is GM Ryan Pace having such a hard time with something that seems so obvious?
Mike Sando of The Athletic moved to find out.
He spoke to multiple NFL executives around the league about this issue. Contrary to the popular myth, it’s not just a case of the Bears devaluing Robinson. Much of it stems from the ongoing headaches surrounding the 2021 salary cap.
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With team salary-cap limits expected to shrink from $198.2 million this season to $175 million in 2021 because of pandemic-driven revenue shortfalls, these receivers are seeking bigger pieces of a shrinking pie. As the pie shrinks, so does the value of the franchise tag, a critical component in negotiations.
Players unwilling to accept extension offers from their teams could wind up settling for the one-year deal that comes with being named a franchise player. The NFL expects the franchise tag value for receivers to shrink from more than $17 million this year to about $15.3 million in 2021…
…“On a $175 million cap, the market is the same as when Allen Robinson, Sammy Watkins, Davante Adams and those guys did their deals,” another exec said. “The problem is, all these other guys are $17-18-19 million, so that is the number guys are shooting for now (with a cap similar to the 2018 version).”
Allen Robinson would have his money if not for COVID-19
This reality is hard to accept for a lot of people. Just pay the man. No excuses. That just isn’t how business works. The Bears had a financial plan in place going into 2020. When COVID-19 hit, that plan was burned to ashes. Suddenly their cap prospects look way tighter for next year than anticipated and Robinson is the one paying the price for it.
He basically has a choice to make. Accept the Bears’ offer, which seems unlikely. Or stand firm on his desired number. In that case, it becomes more and more likely he plays on the franchise tag in 2021. Something he no doubt isn’t wild about. Belief is the star receiver is seeking something close to a five-year deal with the first three years guaranteed.
The Bears are probably willing to go there, but not at the money per year price he wants. Thus the deadlock continues.
