What to know about new Chicago Bears WR Keenan Allen’s contract situation

The Bears swung a surprise trade late Thursday night, acquiring receiver Keenan Allen in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers. In return, the Bears sent a fourth-round draft pick to the Chargers.

It was an aggressive move from Bears general manager Ryan Poles. Since taking over as GM in January 2022, Poles’ entire plan has been about building through the draft. He has been selective with where he spends big money. Nearly all of his free agent additions have been in their 20s. Allen, on the other hand, is 31 years old (and will be 32 in April) and has not played a full season since 2019.

There is some risk in this move. The Bears are giving up a fourth-round draft pick, which would equate to a player on a four-year rookie contract. Allen, on the other hand, has only one season on his current deal. The Bears, who had the fourth-most money to spend in free agency this year, will owe Allen a lot of money for one season.

Here’s a look at Allen’s contract and what it might mean for the Bears.

Let’s look at Allen’s contract

In September 2020, Allen and the Chargers agreed to a four-year, $80.1 million contract extension. The Bears are taking on the fourth and final year of that deal.

When NFL teams trade players, the team that traded the player away is generally responsible for paying the player’s signing bonus. Allen’s $11.6 million bonus will count toward the Chargers’ salary cap number (that’s where the term “dead money” comes from in NFL lingo).

The Bears are responsible for paying his base salary, which is $18 million for the 2024 season. The Bears will also be responsible for paying a $5 million roster bonus, which kicks in Sunday. If Allen is on the Bears’ roster Sunday, they will owe him that money. So his total salary cap charge will be about $23 million in 2024 for the Bears.

Prior to the deal, the Bears had $56 million in salary cap space available, per OverTheCap.com. About $12 million of that is earmarked for rookies selected in April’s draft, which leaves about $44 million to play around with in free agency. If Allen’s cap hit is $23 million, that number of available money drops to about $21 million.

Could the Bears extend Allen’s contract?

The easiest way to ease Allen’s $23 million salary cap hit would be to add one (or more) extra years to the deal. The Bears could then spread some of that base salary over future years. NFL teams do this all the time. They can convert base salaries into bonus money and push it into future years.

The question here is whether the Bears see Allen as essentially a one-year rental or as a player they envision being part of their team for several years. Allen missed four games last year and seven games in 2022 due to injuries. The biggest injury of his career was an ACL tear in 2016.

Would the Bears really want to extend a receiver’s contract into his age 33 or age 34 season, particularly an expensive receiver? That seems counter to everything the Bears have done under Poles, but Allen is a six-time Pro Bowler the likes of which they haven’t had on the roster under this current front office.

It’s worth pointing out, too, that the Bears don’t need to limit Allen’s cap hit. They have the space to take on his $23 million cap hit and be just fine. This absolutely could be a situation where they play out 2024 on the one-year deal and wait and see how it goes for Allen.

How does the QB affect the Bears’ thinking?

The short answer? It doesn’t. Or at least, it shouldn’t.

The Bears have a unique dilemma at quarterback. Trade Justin Fields and draft Caleb Williams? Keep Fields and pass on Williams? Move ahead with both of them on the roster? The debate has taken over the city of Chicago, particularly on sports talk radio airwaves.

No matter who the starting quarterback is in 2024, the Bears have him set up to succeed with Allen and DJ Moore at receiver. Both guys totaled more than 1,200 yards last season. The Bears haven’t had two 1,000-yard receivers in the same year since Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey did it in 2013.

Any quarterback should be thrilled to have these two targets. Certainly two veterans would be beneficial for a rookie quarterback, if that’s the route the Bears go. But the same is true if Fields remains the starter. Allen seemingly catches everything. He has five seasons with more than 100 receptions. A Bears player has caught 100 passes in a season just five times ever in the organization’s 100-plus-year history.

If the Bears do draft a quarterback and have him on a cheap rookie contract, it could make sense to extend Allen. A cheap quarterback allows a team to spend on other positions. The Bears would have no problem paying two receivers top dollar. Allen’s contract would likely expire before the Bears would even begin extension talks with the rookie QB, if they ever got to the point in three or four years.