Video: Keenan Allen Says He Refused Pay Cut on Chargers Contract Before Bears Trade
Chicago Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen told reporters that he refused to restructure his contract to remain with the Los Angeles Chargers before they traded him to the Windy City for a fourth-round draft pick.
Allen had a good reason for that decision, which he relayed in his introductory press conference to Bears reporters (9:21 mark).
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“It really was no emotion, it was ‘I’m not doing it,'” Allen told reporters. “I’m not doing it. I just came off my best season, so it’s not happening.”
Allen caught 108 passes for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing the last four games of the season with a heel injury.
The Chargers entered this offseason with a dire salary cap situation. Per Daniel Popper of The Athletic, the team was $45.8 million over the cap heading into February.
The Bolts have made some moves to rectify that situation, notably restructuring the contracts of edge-rushers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa. They also released wide receiver Mike Williams.
They apparently tried to approach Allen with a similar ask as Bosa and Mack but instead ending the ex-Cal star’s decade-long tenure with the team when he refused.
But now a new chapter is beginning for the 31-year-old Allen in Chicago. He is going into the final season of a four-year, $45 million extension he previously signed with L.A. But it appears that he could be in Chicago for longer than one season.
Allen suggested during his press conference that a new long-term deal with the Bears could be forthcoming, as noted by Adam Jahns of The Athletic.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler also noted the $5 million roster bonus that Allen has due to him Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The Bears will obviously pay that money, and with that being the case, Fowler posited hat an extension would “presumably make sense.”
And with that, Allen joins a potentially exciting Bears offense that already includes a bona fide No. 1 wideout in D.J. Moore and, by all accounts, will presumably add USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the top overall draft pick on April 25.
