The Bears have had plenty of offense problems over the years, from the quarterback position to the coordinators. They managed to get right the last few years is their number one wide receiver position: Allen Robinson. Since coming over from the Jaguars, Robinson has totaled 153 catches for 1.901 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s also played in 29 out of the possible 32 games during that time. It’s time for the Bears to extend his contract.
If you can find why Allen Robinson doesn’t deserve an extension, other fans would like to know. He’s 27-years-old and is coming off a season where he caught 98 balls for 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s one of the most well-liked and respected players in that locker room, and an outstanding representative of the Bears both on and off the field. Those are the kind of guys you want to keep on your team for the rest of their careers.
Despite all this positive stuff, the Bears are in the middle of September with their best offensive player still not having an extension. Last week Robinson threw a tremendous amount of shade at the Bears by deleting everything Bears related from his social media accounts. Later, the support came online from Anthony Miller and Tarik Cohen. Trubisky advocated publicly for the deal to get done.
Despite a roller-coaster week for the star wide receiver over social media, including a report coming out that Robinson and his agent had requested a trade, contract talks between his party and the team have resumed. Reportedly the frustration stems from the Bears not wanted to pay market value for him. Robinson deserves to be paid the market value for his position; he’s earned it. He also seems to be the only receiver Trubisky can complete a pass to consistently.
The Bears cannot use the salary cap as an excuse not to pay him, despite the cap reportedly set to decrease by as much as $23 million. Ryan Pace has even said that he wouldn’t let the cap stop him or the team from doing what they want. It hasn’t stopped the Arizona Cardinals (two years, $54.5 Million to DeAndre Hopkins), the Los Angeles Chargers (four years, $80.1 Million to Keenan Allen), or Los Angeles Rams (four years, $65 Million to Robert Woods and three years, $49 million to Cooper Kupp).
Money wasn’t an issue for the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans, who gave massive deals to Dalvin Cook and Alvin Kamara, respectively. The Chiefs managed to shell out a half-billion dollars to Patrick Mahomes. If the Bears want to keep an elite receiver like Robinson around, then the cap isn’t a problem.
Ryan Pace has made plenty of mistakes before but this one would franchise-altering catastrophic if they trade Robinson or let him walk.
If he isn’t on the team in 2021, then what is the plan here? The only logical thing that could occur is the Bears undergoing a complete teardown rebuild despite having lots of money tied to stars defensive players Khalil Mack, Kyle Fuller, Eddie Jackson, and Robert Quinn (Who hasn’t practiced in September). A teardown would make as much sense as not extending Robinson’s contract.
The best solution here is to keep Robinson as a Chicago Bear in 2021. It gives Mitchell Trubisky or Nick Foles or someone else a proper number one receiver and a fighting chance to win on offense.
If the Bears don’t want to extend Robinson, they shouldn’t have put the money elsewhere. Pace has done an excellent job at extending Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, and Cody Whitehair before the seasons started in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
How Robinson wasn’t four in a row is a mystery. This especially puzzling given the number of players that signed extensions before Week 1. Given the surfacing of #ExtendAR from players inside Halas Hall, fans must wonder how much internal damage this will cause the longer he doesn’t have an extension.
Reportedly, Robinson and the Bears are only two million dollars off. This typically means a deal will get done sooner or later. I think he’ll get his extension. The Bears should do it unless they want to lose the fan base again and potentially their locker room; they need to be smart.
The choices are simple: Give Robinson his extension, and the Bears keep an elite weapon for next year and beyond, or don’t pay him, and the fans, players, and media will have a field day condemning this decision. The Bears should choose wisely here.
