Late season surge should give the Bears more than enough confidence to bring back WR Keenan Allen after the 2024 season
While it's been a down year for the Chicago Bears' offense that fell short of expectations, the unit still showed promising things for the future.Despite losing their offensive coordinator and head coach midway through the regular season, the Bears' offense has continued to fight in every game, although the outcomes haven't been what you'd like […]
While it's been a down year for the Chicago Bears' offense that fell short of expectations, the unit still showed promising things for the future.
Despite losing their offensive coordinator and head coach midway through the regular season, the Bears' offense has continued to fight in every game, although the outcomes haven't been what you'd like to see.
Even still, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is on pace to have the best passing season in franchise history and other players have been stepping up along the way.
Veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen has been one of those players who has stepped up in a big way over the last few weeks and he's quietly putting together one of his best seasons at 32-years-old. With two more receiving touchdowns over the next two weeks, Allen would set a new single-season career-high while hauling in 60+ passes for the eighth consecutive year.
When the Bears went out to trade for Allen, the team wanted to pair their rookie quarterback with a sure-handed, savvy pass catcher as a security blanket. Allen has largely been able to provide that for Williams while still making some big plays.
On Sunday against the Detroit Lions, Allen's 45-yard touchdown was the longest touchdown of his career and the longest touchdown of Williams' rookie season. Allen finished the game with 9 receptions for 141 yards on 13 targets, his fifth game of the season with 10+ targets and third game of the season with 80+ yards.
The production Allen has shown in this offense has been night and day from what we saw that the beginning of the year and a big reason why is because of the change in the team's offensive play-caller. Since Thomas Brown took over the play-calling duties in Week 11, Allen has been averaging 10.3 targets per game and 75.5 yards per game with five receiving touchdowns.
Over that span, Allen has proven himself worthy of another deal with the Bears, but whether that happens or not depends on how the front office feels.
When the Bears traded for Allen, the veteran had one more year remaining on his four-year extension he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020. That final year will expire in two games.
After Sunday's game, Allen once again weighed in on his uncertain future as he approaches potentially hitting the free agent market for the first time in his career.
"You got to prove it to all 32 teams," Allen said. "At the end of the day, that's what it's about. The last name on your back is really what matters."
The players in the locker room, including fellow wide receiver DJ Moore and his young quarterback, would love to run it back with Allen in 2025. And that's something Allen also expressed some interest in a few weeks back.
“You take it for what it is, honestly,” Allen said on December 5th. “It’s a new start for me, a new position and a new place. After talking with DJ [Moore] today, he wants me to run it back. So, we’ll see.”
The only problem with extending Allen is the fact that the Bears just gave Moore a massive new deal during the summer that will cost $24.9 million next season while also drafting Rome Odunze in the first round of April's draft. And it won't be cheap to keep Allen around next season.
But, with another salary cap increase expected for all 32 teams along with over $80 million in available space, the Bears can make something work, especially after freeing up more money by cutting a few contracts the team needs to move on from.
As for having three big names at the position, hopefully the team's new head coach or offensive play-caller can utilize Moore, Allen, and Odunze to their full abilities better than the coaching staff did this season.
