If you were a top 10-15 wide receiver in the NFL, and your quarterbacks were Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, would you commit to a future with those two at the helm? That’s the question many who follow the Chicago Bears are asking about Bears’ current top wideout Allen Robinson.
Many media outlets, fans and analysts have called for Chicago to sign Robinson to a contract extension ASAP, and Robinson himself has frequently tweeted about wanting to be a Chicago Bear for a long time. He also said in December that he wanted to become the all-time leading receiver for the team, which would require him being there for a few more years. So why hasn’t an extension happened yet?
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Bears Analysts Wonder Whether Quarterback Could Be a Factor in A-Rob’s Decision
On a recent addition of the Under Center Podcast, co-host Laurence Holmes posed an intriguing question to his panel: “If you’re Allen Robinson, and you’re sitting there and obviously you’re up for an extension; it would help the Bears from a cap perspective, although the Nick Foles money helps them tremendously in that regard. If you’re him, do you sign an extension with this team knowing that the quarterback position is still kinda up for grabs versus playing it out and then determining your own future?”
Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times was blunt in his assessment of the situation. “I don’t think he’s worried about it, cause his last quarterback was Blake Bortles. Allen Robinson is like the patron saint of putting up numbers no matter who’s at quarterback.”
Patrick Finley of the Sun-Times brought up Robinson’s not-too-distant past, recalling the lasrt time Robinson was faced with this same decision. “If I’m Allen Robinson, the last time I was in a walk year, I tore my ACL in the first game of the season,” Finley said. “That, I think, would inform how I look at walk years. If he can get $19-20 million a year guaranteed, maybe $60 [million] overall, $55, overall … without exposing himself to an injury that could cost him half that money, I would do that, and I would run to the bank and be very happy about it. He is a wonderful player. He could probably align himself with a better quarterback if he wanted to hit the open market, but this is serious money that I don’t think he’ll turn down.”
Co-host J.J. Stankevitz of NBC Sports noted that if recent history is any indicator, Bears GM Ryan Pace has usually made an effort to re-sign coveted players, but Stankevitz also noted that sometimes it takes them until August or September to do it (see: Cody Whitehair, Charles Leno Jr. and Akiem Hicks). That could be what’s going to happen with Robinson, who said recently that contract talks with the team aren’t really happening currently.
“I can’t speak on any news,” Robinson said, told the Chicago Tribune last month. “It’s still early in the offseason. For me, I don’t get myself too hyped up or too wound up about that. I’m just preparing myself to get healthy and better going into next season.”
With the 2020 NFL Draft vastly approaching, Ryan Pace could be waiting to see how everything shakes out before attempting to shore Robinson up. Pace said the following about extending Robinson during the scouting combine in late February: “We keep those things inside, but it’s obviously something we’ve talked about,” Pace said. “He’s a good player and does a lot for our team on and off the field and he’s a guy we’d like to have a Bear for a long time.”
The addition of Nick Foles actually makes the Bears QB room better, so it’s unlikely Robinson will want to walk now, especially if Pace is ready to pay him.
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Could Bears’ Current QB Situation Affect Allen Robinson’s Contract Extension?