When the Chicago Bears kicked off mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, the media finally got to see the debut of the team's newest offensive weapon in action.

During all the headlines throughout organized team activities, everyone seemed to have forgotten about the Bears' new Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen, who wasn't present during the team's voluntary practice.

Now, Allen is back on the field with the rest of the team's offense gearing up for what is currently slated to be a contract year for the top wide receiver.

Being able to land a player like Allen came as a surprise for the team's front office during the offseason and threw a wrench into their long-term financial plans. Since he only has one year left on his deal, the Bears will already have to make a decision soon on Allen's future in Chicago but seem to be content with letting things play out.

While that seems like a wise decision, the exploding wide receiver market is going to eventually make things complicated for the Bears' front office in terms of offering Allen what he's worth.

"As long as those numbers continue to go up, the players are gonna obviously continue to get better," Allen explained. "They're younger, bigger, stronger, faster, and they continue to raise the bar. As long as they're taking care of their job, the vets like me, we'll just continue to do what we do, take a backseat and get paid as well."

Entering Year 12 in the league, Allen isn't going to demand a record breaking deal, but his abilities on the field will still warrant a large contract for however long it might be. Allen appears to be in the same boat as the front office and wants his work to do the talking when it comes to a future deal.

"I'm going to play as long as I can," Allen explained. "As far as extension, we would like the play to speak for itself. If [the Bears' front office] offered me something that I like, then we'll go from there. The goal right now is to go out and do what I always do and just try to remain who I am."

Keenan Allen on a possible extension with the Bears.

Pretty funny moment the end. pic.twitter.com/QBwgqtmqLC

— Dave (@dave_bfr) June 4, 2024

It makes sense considering it's hard to invest in a player or in a team long-term before you know what the fit will even look like. Luckily for the Bears, adding former Los Angeles Chargers' wide receiver coach Chris Beatty has given Allen a sense of familiarity in Chicago to build off of.

"Just him being here made it a lot more comfortable," Allen said. "Just not not having to adjust to another guy who I'm gonna see every day, who's gonna talk to me every day. We already have an understanding of the way I've go through the week. He knows how I want to practice, he knows when and when not to with me, so it's great."

A big part of the extension talk for Allen will come from how impactful he is within the offensive scheme that will have a lot of mouths of feed. Just at his position, Allen will be playing alongside another top receiver in DJ Moore and a first round rookie in Rome Odunze, who together will form one of the league's top trios.

"I think we have different skill sets, but we're all doing the same thing," Allen said. "We're all gonna run the same routes. We're all going to be in the same spot. So, skill set really doesn't matter until you get the ball and once you get the ball, you're able to see who can do what. DJ, through the roof, is his yards after catch. We've got to see what Rome's gonna do in the NFL, and I'm a guy who's gonna play to play the middle. I think we're all gonna feed off each other and just build confidence with each other."

Both Allen and Moore have joked that it's going to be a race to 1,000 receiving yards this upcoming season and if Allen can string together another 1,000 yard season at age 32, he deserves all the money that will eventually come his way.

Keenan Allen’s future extension with the Chicago Bears might have to wait until after the 2024 season starts

Will a deal get done before Week 1?