USA Today
Report: Allen Robinson, Bears Hold Contract Talks Again
The Bears and Allen Robinson are on speaking terms again.
This was apparent when he came out in a press conference after his blowup on social media last week, but an NFL Network report says it goes beyond this. Robinson's agent Brandon Parker and the Bears are reportedly involved again in contract talks.
The Bears have avoided saying anything about the talks, beyond they want Robinson to get a long-term deal.
An earlier report from Mike Garafolo of NFL Network suggested the sides are far apart and said the Bears were offering something in the range of $16 million a year while Robinson wanted somewhere close to $18 million.
Being $2 million to $2.5 million apart doesn't sound like the biggest issue to overcome or that they're "far apart."
What is certain is the asking price could go up, considering how much other wide receivers are receiving. So logically it would be in the Bears' best interest to get a deal done quickly.
For instance, the Rams gave Robert Woods a four-year $65 million deal and Cooper Kupp got three years and $48 million.
Woods has had receiving totals comparable to or better than Robinson's the last two years, while Kupp has a ways to go to achieve this. Woods had 90 receptions for 1,134 yards last year and 86 for 1,219 yards the previous season, while Robinson had 55 catches for 754 yards in 2018 and 98 receptions for 1,147 yards last year.
Robinson's current deal expires after this season and he averaged $14 million for three years. He had $18 million in bonus money with it.
If the Bears failed to get Robinson a new deal and opted to franchise tag him next year, the projection for tags is around $15.7 million. Normally it would be higher but the figure is based on a league-wide projected drop in revenues and salary cap number to $175 million as a result of the pandemic.
For Robinson to break into the top 10 among receivers in average annual amount he would need to average $16.2 million according to Overthecap.com.
Atlanta's Julio Jones last year received a three-year $22 million deal with a majority of it guaranteed. DeAndre Hopkins has a two-year deal from the Cardinals for $27.5 million a year. Odell Beckham Jr. has a deal averaging $18 million and Michael Thomas' contract averages $19.3 million.
The Bears had used lack of clear knowledge about the league cap as a cause for the delay in the past, but this doesn't appear to have slowed other teams from signing receivers to contracts.
One particular problem they could have in this regard is Mitchell Trubisky is not under contract for next year, should they have an interest in bringing him back.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
